


Broken Glass Can Be Beautiful

by thegalrahobbitofplantetgalilfrey



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Angst, Fluff, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, I'm addicted now, Pain, Slavery, Sorry Not Sorry, self-abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2018-12-31 06:44:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 109,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12126789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegalrahobbitofplantetgalilfrey/pseuds/thegalrahobbitofplantetgalilfrey
Summary: What if the Blade of Marmora never existed? What if, without the Blade slowing the Empire down, they conquered the whole universe before the paladins were even born? What would happen? If you enjoyed, I'm on Tumblr! Heads up, this is the fic that used to be Trust Is Best, but, 29 chapters in, I thought of a better name.





	1. Chapter 1

Eight-year-old Keith Kogane was in space. It was amazing, more beautiful than he’d ever imagined, with all of the stars, and the ability to see earth behind them, a blue and green marble with streaks of white.

It was too bad he was a prisoner.

They’d taken him just that morning, right after they’d shot his dad. They’d been safe in their desert home, safe for eight years. Most people remembered that day eight years ago as the day aliens conquered the earth. Keith thought of it as his birthday. He and his father had lived by themselves for those eight long years, sneaking into town at night to get food. But they’d been caught, they’d been ambushed, and they’d shot his dad on sight. And taken Keith. Nobody had tried to stop them. How could they? They were all slaves, a conquered people. He sniffled. He had no idea where he was going.

“Shut up, half-breed. Don’t release your disgusting tears here.”

Keith bit his wobbling lip. That was another thing. They kept calling him “half-breed.” He’d never known his mother, but surely she couldn’t be one of the hated Galra. Could she? He’d always pictured her as a beautiful and good lady who’d had to leave to help their planet. Not one of the hated aliens who’d conquered their planet and shot his father. Maybe his first impression had been more true than he’d thought. Maybe she’d left to protect him and his dad. Or maybe she’d left for selfish reasons that he would never learn.

“Move along.” The small ship he’d been in had docked on a battle station, and the lead Galra shoved him out, to a long corridor ending in one massive door. Keith was being shoved towards the door, and he saw a few faces that looked sympathetic. But those sympathetic faces were as much of a prisoner as he was. They might be free to come and go, but they couldn’t step outside their emperor’s laws.

The door hissed open, and Keith was shoved to his knees in front of a throne. He stared at the ground, scared of what was in front of him, scared of what might be sitting there.

“ _This_ is the half-breed we spent eight years looking for? Can’t say I’m impressed. He looks weak.”

Keith’s anger got the better of him and he looked up at the emperor, shouting, “I’m not weak! You kidnapped me and killed my father!”

A nearby Galra smacked him over the head with the butt of his gun, knocking him to the ground. Keith held his throbbing head, glaring up at the emperor sitting on the throne.

“Is that a blaze of defiance I see? Hatred? That can be crushed. Let me see… I think Lotor needs a servant, doesn’t he? What do you think, son?”

A Galra boy behind the throne stepped forward a small smile on his face. Keith shivered as his luminous yellow eyes locked onto him. “I think I _would_ like the half-breed, father. He sounds like fun.” His purple lips parted in a pointy-toothed smile. “Oh, yes, he will be lots of fun.”

 

 

Hunk’s head shot up as he heard a rustling in the trees outside the window of the slave house, and he swept the pieces of his project under his pillow, lying down and pretending to be asleep. It was too early for the sentries to be coming through! He’d memorized their patterns, and he still had half an hour!

“Hey!”

Hunk looked at the window to see a boy, smaller than him, but the same age with brown hair and blue eyes. He gestured to himself.

“Yes, you! Can I come in?”

Hunk considered a moment. The penalty for being caught out this late was steep, but if he let this boy in, he could also get in trouble.

“Come on in.”

The boy grinned, revealing a gap-toothed smile and started to scurry into the room. “Thanks. My name’s Lance! I know I shouldn’t be out this late, but I got in trouble and-”

“Gotcha, rat!” Lance yelped as he was dragged backwards, and Hunk hid under the covers, knowing what was about to happen. He plugged in his ears, but he couldn’t block out Lance’s shouts of pain, which faded to whimpers.

When the heavy footsteps of the soldier stomped away, Hunk poked his head out from the covers and walked the window, making sure that the Galra soldier was gone before crawling out of the window and picking up Lance’s limp form and dragging him through into his room.

He got a wet cloth and carefully washed the whip lashes on Lance’s back, wincing when Lance whimpered. “Shhh, you’ll wake everybody up.” Lance bit his lip and let Hunk keep sponging the blood off of his back and bandaging the cruel lashes up. “My name’s Hunk. What happened?”

“I talked back to a Galra soldier. He said he was going to make me pay after curfew, so I could still get a full day’s work. So, I ran off. But he found me.”

“Yeah. We’ve got tracking chips in us. It’s the reason all of the runaway slaves get caught. They always know where we are.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I don’t know where they are, but they’re there. I’m trying to figure out where they are, because if I do, I’m building a device that completely wipes them without alerting the Galra. Just _bam_. According to their databanks, you never existed.”

“If you find out where they are, can’t you just take them out?”

Hunk shook his head. “They can tell if you tamper with them physically. They monitor heartbeats, brain signals, breathing, everything. They only way is to wipe them or to die.”

“And you’re figuring out how to wipe them?”

“Yeah. And then I’m going to wipe as many as I can and join the resistance.”

“Can I come?” Hunk looked at Lance questioningly and he plowed ahead. “I really, really, _really_ hate it here, and I want to leave, and do something to help, and well, you seem like my best shot.” He offered Hunk a hand. “What do you say?”

Hunk grinned and took Lance’s hand. “Deal. The instant I get this figured out, you’ll be the first one to know.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning: In this parallel world, Lotor is a psycho sadist.

“Number 41. Right on time.”

Keith sighed internally. Ten years had passed since he had first arrived. Ten years since he’d been on earth. And every day, like clockwork, this time that he had to help Lotor with whatever he needed. Time for the daily torture session known as ‘Lotor hated his guts for no actual reason.’ “Yes sir.”

“You and your ‘sirs.’ You sound so polite. But you know, I still see hatred in your eyes. You still have a blaze of defiance running through those half-blood veins of yours.”

“Yes sir.” That was the way. Keep your responses short, don’t make eye contact, agree when needed. That was how you survived. That’s how he’d survived so long. Most didn’t live as long as he had. _Especially_ not Lotor’s servants.

Lotor carefully unbuckled his sword and put it on the table. “Do you know what happened today on your planet today?”

Keith did know, but he’d also learned that you always let Lotor tell you. Lotor didn’t like thinking that people knew things before he did. “No sir.”

“One-thousand of your filthy race decided to mutiny. They rose against their masters. Do you know what happened to them?”

Keith _didn’t_ know that. “No sir.”

“They were executed. Every last one. A shame that we lost so many laborers.”

Keith’s temper boiled over. “They weren’t just laborers! They were people with lives, and names and families!”

Lotor’s eyes glinted as he set his helmet on the counter. “Computer? Shut the door.”

Keith had overstepped. He knew it. And now he was going to pay for it.

 

 

“Hey, Hunk.”

“Lance what happened to you?” Hunk’s friend was covered in bruises and had a long cut over one eye, but he grinned, revealing a missing tooth.

“I snuck into the slave drivers’ quarters.”

“ _Lance._ ”

Lance held up his hands. “Hear me out. I saw a good opportunity.” He pulled out a long roll of paper and unfurled it, showing the anatomy of a human body, but with something extra.

“Lance, please tell me that’s what I think it is. Please tell me I’m not dreaming.”

Lance beamed. “You’re not dreaming, buddy! This is a nice map of exactly where our tracking chips are! All you have to do is finish your device and you’re golden!”

Hunk chewed his lower lip. “Well. About that. See, I have the device finished. And it works in _theory_. But the problem is… I need a direct connection to the Galra database and… I don’t know how to get one.”

“No way.”

Hunk sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. But, the good news is, I found a girl named Katie who has _excellent_ hacking skills. Katie’s going to help us. She’ll be here soon.”

Like some kind of miracle, there was a knock on the door, and a brown-haired girl ran in, her eyes frantic. “Hunk, they know me by appearance!”

“What?!”

“They caught me on my computer, and they got a good look at my face, but I didn’t let them scan my chip. They’re looking for me.”

“Well, then. We’ll have to disguise you, then.”

Katie looked at Lance and then back at Hunk. “Who…”

“Oh! Katie, this is Lance, Lance, Katie. Great idea Lance, but how?”

Lance pulled out a pair of scissors, and Katie shook her head, grabbing her hair. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Sorry. It’s the only way.”

Katie held still while Lance cut her hair off, but she looked like she wanted to cry. Hunk and Lance found a T-shirt and shorts for her.

“This isn’t going to be enough. My face…”

Lance handed her a big pair of glasses. “Your name is Pidge now. Got it? Nobody can know who you are. Oh, and to _really_ shake things up, you’re also a guy.”

“Great. Okay. Let’s get to work. You said you needed a direct link to the databases, right? Alright, I got that for you. Plug in your gadget and we’ll link that to it too.”

“That easy?”

“That easy.”

“Kat-Pidge, you’re a genius,” Hunk said as he plugged the handheld device into the laptop, “A bona-fide genius.”

“I know.”

“Katie, you’re going first.”

“What? It’s Hunk’s invention!”

“Yeah, but it’s only a matter of time until they track your chip to the place they saw you and find out who you are.” Hunk put the transmitter right at the base of her neck and pressed the button. There was a little _bleep_ and Katie’s number and tracking signal disappeared from the database.

Lance jumped up and down excitedly. “It worked, it worked, it worked! Do me next!”

Hunk obliged, and they watched Lance slip off the database, followed by Hunk. And then there was a pounding on the door.

 

 

“Keith, what happened?”

Keith winced as one of his fellow slaves sewed up a cut on his arm. Anna worked in the med bay (her species was famously known for healing) and often snuck out supplies for the other slaves. She ended up helping him a lot. “I lost my temper at Lotor.”

“He taunted you about the rebellion, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. And like a moron, I fell for it. Ouch!”

“Sorry. There was no extra anesthetic. There were a _lot_ of sword injuries.”

Keith snorted. “There would be. Lotor taught the class today. Ow!”

“Keith, you can’t keep doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“Provoking him. One day he’s going to kill you! You’re lucky he enjoys tormenting you so much, or you’d already be dead.”

“Lucky me,” Keith muttered darkly, “I get to be tortured by a psychopath alien who has a cruel streak bigger than his ego, which is saying something.”

“This is exactly what I’m talking about! What if one day he hears you saying something like that?! Right now, he’s punishing you for insignificant things, but one day he’s really going to hurt you!”

“I don’t get in trouble _that_ much.”

Anna yanked up his shirt and pointed to the motley of bruises that covered his chest and back, along with the whipping scars and, the long scar from where Lotor had thrown his sword in a fit of anger at age ten. “Tell me that again. You need to cool it.”

Keith sighed. “I’ll try.” He rolled over on his pallet, trying to ignore the stinging of the cut as he drifted into sleep.

 

 

“What do we do,” Lance whispered, “They’ll notice that we have no chips!”

“Hey! Open this door!”

“Same plan,” Pidge whispered back, “We run away and join the resistance.”

“We can’t do that,” Hunk whispered frantically, “We have no idea where they are!”

“I do. My brother was a resistance fighter, and they… they gave us a message when he didn’t return from a mission, and I analyzed where it came from, so we at least have a clue.”

“Window?”

“Window.”

Hunk scooped up his invention, and when the Galra busted the door down, there was no one inside.

 

Three teenagers crashed through a jungle, the two shortest arguing with each other.

“What do you _mean_ we took a wrong turn?!”

“I _mean_ , _Lance,_ that when you were in charge of the map, you took us the wrong way!”

“Did not!”

“Did too! And now we have a tail! Great job!”

“How was _I_ supposed to know that there was a Galra camp there?!”

“If you’d taken us the right way in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this situation, _period!”_

“You don’t know that!”

“Stop it, you two! We need to work together!”

“We can’t keep this up forever. We’re going to have to stop.”

“We can’t stop. We have to keep going, or they’ll catch us!”

They were still going three days later, covered in mud and about to collapse from exhaustion, their pursuers still after them, still giving them no time to breathe. Pidge tripped over a tree root and didn’t get up. When they turned to look back at her, Hunk and Lance both slammed into a tree and fell over. They didn’t hear it, but there was a nearby sound of a gunshot, and their pursuers collapsed, dead. A man with a shock of white bangs, a scar stretching across his face and, of all things, a metal arm dropped out of the trees and picked up Pidge and Lance, slinging one of Hunk’s arms over his shoulder. He smiled. He could tell that these three were going to change everything.

 

 

Pidge blinked and slowly opened her eyes. She was somewhere warm, somewhere safe. But where? It looked like a high-tech cave, people swarming everywhere.

“Hello.”

Pidge jumped at the sound of a man’s voice, and the metal-armed man laughed, holding up one hand. “Whoa, there. I’m not going to hurt you. My name’s Shiro. What’s yours?”

“P-Pidge.”

“Great. It’s alright, Pidge. You’re safe now.”

Pidge sat straight up. “Hunk and Lance! Where are they?!”  
“Calm down. They’re fine. We were waiting for you to wake up.”

“Yes, we were.” Pidge looked to the gruff man who had spoken. “The real question is; are you worth it?”

“Sir, I’m sure-”

“Shirogane, you stepped outside of your bounds when you rescued these three. You are on probation for potentially bringing people into our midst who can be tracked.”

“But Sir-”

“Dismissed.” Shiro’s head drooped and he left.

“They can’t track us.”

The commander looked at Pidge, raising one eyebrow. She continued, “We deactivated our devices. And we can do it for anyone else.”

 

 

“So this device of yours… you just aim it at the base of the neck and press the button?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. I’ll be taking this, then. And I’m sending Hunk and Lance on mission. Pidge is going to help me hack the Galra more.”

“Wait, what, really? We’re going on mission?”

“Yes, and an important one. We’re sending a mission to the main control center of Zarkon. The original plan was to kill Zarkon, but since now we have you two, we can send you on a side mission to kill his son, Lotor. Are you in?”

Both boys looked at each other nervously, but they were confident in their answer. “We’re in.”

 

 

“You can’t do this!”

“Shirogane-”

“They’re children! You can’t just send them off on a suicide mission because you want them out of the way!”

“On the contrary, I certainly can. I _am_ in charge. And anyway, they agreed.”

“Boys, run!”

“Shiro, it’s fine. We’re being sent on an important mission.”

“NO! You don’t understand! You’re flying towards-” The space shuttle’s door cut off of whatever Shiro had been about to say. Hunk and Lance looked at each other nervously. What exactly had they agreed to do?”

 

 

“Number 41.”

Keith turned to face Lotor. He wasn’t expecting the sudden punch that landed on his jaw, knocking him clear across the room and into the wall. He staggered to his feet, dazed. What had he done? He hadn’t spoken except to answer direct questions!

“How did they do it,” Lotor screamed, “How did your monkey race manage to fool the chips?!” Oh. He was being punished for something somebody on Earth had done.

Lotor pressed one hand to Keith’s throat, pushing his windpipe back towards his spine. “How?!” Keith clawed frantically at Lotor’s hand as his air started to run out, spots dancing in front of his eyes. Lotor didn’t pay any attention. “How did three teenagers figure out how to hack our base, and turn off their chips without ever removing them?!” He released Keith, who slumped to the floor, gasping and sucking in air. Underneath the pain of his jaw and the loss of air, Keith felt a small glimmer of satisfaction. Someone had done it. Someone had outsmarted the Galra.

The satisfaction was quickly wiped out when a stunning kick from Lotor that connected with his ribs sent him toppling over and knocking the wind out of him. “Your race is pathetic and weak, but they did it! How?! We took _everything_ away from you. We made you _numbers_. You’re barely even sentient creatures anymore! How, 41?!”

“Desperation?” Keith knew that now was not the time for sarcastic suggestions, but he said it anyway. Lotor’s nostrils flared, but he just turned away, leaving Keith a crumpled mess on the floor.

“Humans. How pathetic.”

Keith staggered to his feet. He would’ve loved to stay on the ground, but he knew if he didn’t get up he’d be determined unfit for service and be thrown out of an airlock. He’d spent ten years avoiding that fate, and he wasn’t about to die now.

The alarm blared, and the computer bleeped at them. _Prince Lotor, it appears that there are some rebels on board. For your own safety, please stay on board._

“Rebels,” Lotor muttered, “Of _course_ there are. If this is your pathetic race, 41, I’m going to hand you over to Haggar as compensation and let her play with you.”

Keith gulped. He had always steered clear of Zarkon’s witch, and he truly hoped that there were no humans on board. What went into her lab came back mutilated, or not at all. He’d heard stories from the survivors…

Lance and Hunk followed a map they’d been given to where the Prince was. Luckily, their comrades had attracted most of the attention, and they saw very few guards. They came to a massive door, decorated only with the sign of the Galra Empire and Hunk nodded. This was the place. Lance put a dead sentry’s hand on the scanner and opened the door.

Inside, as well as the Galra prince, was a boy their age, who looked like he hadn’t had a haircut for at least a couple of years. When the boy saw them, he just closed his eyes and looked away, as if he had been hoping for someone else.

The prince thrust a knife into the boy’s hand, his eyes glinting cruelly. “Well, 41? Defend your master!” He leaned in close and whispered. “If you kill them, I’ll consider not sending you to Haggar.”

The boy’s eyes shot open, and Lance saw desperation in them. He understood. He’d heard stories, rumors about Haggar, and he wouldn’t blame this boy if he killed them. But then the boys turned and leveled the knife at Lotor, whose eyes narrowed.

“41. What do you think you are doing?”

“The right thing.” He swung the knife, and Lotor barely blocked it with his sword. The two became a whirling set of blades, slicing and hacking at each other, the slave holding his own despite his inferior blade.

Keith slashed again at Lotor, who easily dodged it and let out his own attack, which landed a hit on Keith’s arm.

“Give up, 41. You won’t win this. I am the better swordsman, and we both know it. There’s no point.”

“There is every point! I have nothing to lose, you know. Even if I die, it’ll be better than what you’ll do to me if I live!”

“You. Are. _Nothing!_ We took _everything_ from you! You’re just a number!”

“My name is Keith Kogane! I’m a human, and I have as much of a right as you! You took my dad. You took my planet. You tried to take my humanity, and now you’re going to find out what happens when I fight back!”

“Can you get a clear shot,” Hunk whispered, “I don’t think he’s going to win this fight, and we need to stop this.”

Lance shook his head. “I can’t be sure that I won’t accidentally hit- what’s his name, Keith? Yeah. I can’t be sure that I’ll miss him and hit Lotor.”

Lotor’s glance flicked away from Keith for a couple of seconds, and Keith made a desperate lunge. This was it. If he didn’t hit him now, he was doomed. Lotor moved to the side and grabbed his arm, twisting it with a _crack_ and yanking it out of its socket. Keith dropped the knife, staring at his useless arm. The two rebels made a move, but Lotor grabbed Keith by his dislocated arm, eliciting a yell, and twisted him up, holding Keith’s dropped knife to his throat.

“Not one more step, or he dies.”

Hunk and Lance halted in their tracks. Keith looked like a frightened animal, his sides heaving and his eyes wide. They couldn’t let him die.

Lotor smiled. “Good. Now set down your weapons.”

Lance and Hunk looked at each other, but still kept hold on their guns. Lotor pressed the knife closer, drawing a thin line of blood, and they slowly set down the guns.

Keith’s anger and pride burned hotter than a fire. He _hated_ being useless. He hated that Lotor was using him like this. These rebels could’ve killed Lotor if he hadn’t interfered. Now he was the only thing stopping them. He took in one deep breath, closing his eyes. Then he brought his head forward before snapping it right back into Lotor’s nose.

Lotor let go of the knife in surprise and Keith spun away from him, giving the two rebels a clear shot. The quickly scooped up their weapons and both fired a shot at him, the bullets racing straight towards Lotor’s black heart.

And then the impossible happened. Lotor _dodged_ both bullets in one graceful move, scooping up the knife and doing a handspring over them all. He landed behind Keith and growled,

“Born by treachery, die a traitor.” And he plunged the knife into Keith’s back before running out the door, dodging the bullets from the rebels.

Lance didn’t see the knife until Keith collapsed, curling into a ball. He abandoned his shooting as Lotor disappeared down the hallway, laughing. “Hunk, come on!” The two boys rushed to Keith’s side. Lance shuddered at the sight of the knife sticking out of Keith’s back.

“We have to get him back to base.”

“Iverson’s going to kill us. Let’s go.”

“Hold on, one second. I’m sorry,” he whispered. He grabbed the knife, and grimacing, cut open the back of Keith’s neck, pulling out his tracking chip. Keith whimpered at little, but otherwise didn’t make any noise.

“He’s going into shock because of blood loss. We need to stop the flow.” Hunk took off his army jacket and pressed it into the wound, securing it with his bandolier. They picked him up and ran for it, just as the other rebels shouted for them to get out, the mission was a bust. The way to their ship was blocked, so they made a run for the Galra pod ships. They barely made it, sliding into the pod, Lance taking the controls while Hunk ripped off the identification and tracking device. They blasted off into space, leaving the command center behind them.

Hunk turned to the unconscious Keith. “Don’t die, please don’t die!” He carefully peeled off Keith’s shirt, sticky with blood, to get a better look at his stab wound. What he saw made him wince. He recognized those marks. He’d seen them on Lance’s back, the marks of the whip. But here there were many, many more than Lance had. New scars crisscrossed the old ones, and there was a motley of various colored bruises. And also, the worst, one a long scar, stretching diagonally from the top of his back to the opposite side on the bottom. He touched it lightly, and Keith shivered away from the touch.

“Sorry,” Hunk whispered. He gently felt Keith’s uninjured shoulder and then his injured one, and, with one swift shove, pushed the dislocated arm into place. Then he turned to the stab wound. “Lance? How do I take care of a stab wound?”

“I have no idea, but hold on because we’ve got company!” The ship shuddered, and Hunk could see something burning. “We’re going to crash! Buckle up!”

Hunk dove for the seats, buckling himself and Keith in tightly. He could hear warning bells and alarms, and Lance shouting as Earth came up at an alarming rate.

“We’re on fire!”

“I know, I know, it’s the atmosphere! Prepare for impact!” The ship shuddered and then slammed into a rock, skidding through the desert area. Hunk peeled the seatbelt off with a groan. “That’s going to leave a mark.” He unbuckled Keith and stumbled out of the pod, meeting up with Lance outside.

“Fantastic landing.”

“We’re alive, aren’t we?”

“I’m not so sure about Keith.”

Lance turned a worried eye on his limp form. “How is he?”

“I don’t know. The bleeding slowed, but… I don’t know if he’s going to make it.” Hunk gently set him down and patted his face. “Hey. Hey, wake up!”

Keith’s eyes cracked open, and he stared confusedly at Hunk. “Who are you? Where am I?”

“My name’s Hunk. This is Lance. We were on the command center, remember?”

“Where…”

“We crash-landed on earth.”

Keith tried to sit up, excitement clear in his eyes. “We’re on Earth? Where?! I can’t believe-” He broke off in a fit of coughing, doubled over.

Hunk gently pushed him back down. “Whoa, hey there, you shouldn’t move too much. You have a really, _really_ bad wound in your back.”

“I know. I got stabbed.” He shuddered, coughing again. “Where are we?”

“According to my excellent little GPS, we crashed somewhere in western Texas,” Lance sighed, “In the desert. No idea where we are.”

Keith lifted his head and gazed blearily at his surroundings. “I know where we are. About a mile that way,” he gestured vaguely towards his left, “is a house. It’s abandoned, as far as I know.”

“How do you know that?”

Keith leveled his unsettling gaze at Lance. “Because my father and I were its last inhabitants.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The worst was supposed to be over when they escaped the Galra. Nobody suspected that things would keep going down.

“You lived here?”

Keith dropped onto the couch, completely spent. “Yeah. It’s how I wasn’t noticed for the first eight years of my life. None of the Galra knew we existed.”

“Let me take a look at that stab wound. Do you have any medical supplies?”

Keith pointed up the stairs. “First room on the left had the medicine cabinet. I just hope it’s still there.”

Hunk disappeared up the stairs, and Lance drummed absentmindedly on his leg. “Um. So. You said they didn’t find you for eight years? How- how did they find you?”

“Loyalists,” Keith spat, “Those spineless jellyfish, Galra loving traitors told the Galra about us and they ambushed us. My dad was killed.”

“Oh. I, uh, I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. Anyway, that was ten years ago.”

“Alright, Keith,” Hunk said as he walked back into the room, arms full of gauze, “I’m going to need you to take your shirt off.”

“No.”

“Sorry, what?”

Keith crossed his arms, holding himself tightly. “I don’t like… I’m not going to take off my shirt.”

“Is this because of the scars?”

Keith’s eyes widened. “You saw those?”

“Yeah, um, sorry, I had to take off your shirt to bandage you up. It’s okay. You don’t have to be ashamed of them, right, Lance?”

“Yeah, man, like, just, um…” Lance turned around and pulled his shirt up to show his scars. “I got those when I was, like, eight. Lots of people have them.”

“I… I didn’t know… I thought things were better down here.” Keith sounded absolutely miserable. “I thought that there was less cruelty here.”

“Well, there probably is a lot less cruelty than on Prince Moron’s ship, but we’re still slaves. And it doesn’t happen to everyone. Hunk doesn’t have any, and neither does Katie.” Lance slapped one hand over his own mouth. “Um, Pidge. I meant Pidge.”

Keith shook his head and tried to take off his shirt, before a sudden pain in his lower back stopped him. Hunk gently peeled the shirt off and laid Keith on his stomach so he could take a better look at his wound. Lance hissed in.

“That is… a lot of scars.”

“Whipping was a favorite punishment. Whipping, or withholding food. The ultimate punishment was being sent to Haggar, but thankfully that never happened to me.” He grunted as Hunk cleaned the wound with alcohol. “Ouch!”

“Sorry. I don’t want this to get infected. You were really lucky, you know.”

“Pray tell, what exactly is lucky about being stabbed?”

“The knife missed your spinal cord, and also missed your organs. As far as I can tell, this won’t cause any damage later except a scar.”

“Prescription, Dr. Hunk?”

“Rest. Lots of rest and cleaning this off.”

“Yes sir.” He tried to get up, but fell forward onto his face.

“Whoa, there. You lost a lot of blood, not to mention just the pain factor. Let us help you.”

“No, no, I can… I can do this by myself.”

“Keith. You’re not alone anymore. Let us help you.”

“…Fine.”

 

“He’s hiding something.” Lance turned to Hunk, a questioning glance on his face. They had put Keith in a bed, and he’d curled right up to go to sleep. “There is absolutely no way he could’ve stopped bleeding this fast. Like, that wound should’ve bled him out before we got on the pod. There is practically no way he could’ve survived that, much less bounced back as well as he did.”

Lance shrugged. “Maybe it’s an alien experiment. Maybe, I don’t know, you saw those whipping marks, maybe his body, after all that abuse, is tougher, and more resilient to blood loss.”

“But-”

Lance held up his hands. “I’m not denying that the guy has secrets. He probably does. Most people do. I’m just saying, he got his arm dislocated, had a knife to his throat and got stabbed in the back in one day before crashing in the middle of the desert. Give him some space for a while.”

“Yeah. You’re right. Bed or couch?”

“You take bed first. You’re the doctor.”

 

 

Keith squeezed his eyes shut. They knew. They knew he was hiding something. How could he keep it from them? It was his mother’s side that had kept him from bleeding out, he knew it. But if they found out, they would hate him. They would look at him differently, they would maybe even leave him here to die if they didn’t kill him themselves. His head ached from all these thoughts, and he broke out sweating. What was he going to do?

 

 

“Keith? Are you doing okay?” A low moan answered Lance’s question. Dread sunk its claws into Lance’s chest, and he burst into the room. Keith was shivering and sweating at the same time, curled into fetal position. Lance put one hand to Keith’s forehead and drew it back, hissing. He was hot to the touch.

“Hunk! Hunk! Get over here, Keith’s burning up!”

He heard pounding on the stairs and Hunk ran in, putting one hand on Keith’s forehead before turning him over to look at the wound, pulling the bandages off and drawing in a sharp breath.

“That didn’t sound good.”

“It’s not. The wound’s infected, and it’s making him sick. Get some blankets, some water and some washcloths! And bring me the cleaning alcohol while you’re at it!” Lance nodded and raced out of the room. Hunk put one hand on Keith’s forehead, wincing at how hot he was. He may have survived the initial shock and blood loss, but the worst was still coming.

 

 

“Hold him down. He’s not going to like this.” Lance nodded and pinned down Keith’s shoulders as Hunk drenched the washcloth in cleaning alcohol. He was going to have to clean out as much of the infection as possible, and then he’d probably end up having to take off some of the skin. He took a deep breath and started to clean out the wound.

Keith shouted and thrashed, trying to break free of Lance’s grip, but Lance held on tight. “Stop struggling! We’re helping you!”

“Stop, stop, please, I didn’t do anything!”

“Keith, calm down! Nobody said you did anything!”

“I didn’t- It’s not my fault, I didn’t ask to be like this, please!”

“Keith, stop it!”

“It’s not my fault she was Galra, please, stop!”

Hunk did stop for a moment at that, and both he and Lance stared at Keith, who had tears streaming down his face. “Keith? _Who_ was Galra?”

“My mother, I’m sorry, please, stop. Stop it.”

“Keith, just hold on, alright? What we’re doing is going to help you. Stay calm.”

Hunk winced as he started to clean the wound again, and Keith howled in agony. He felt terrible. He knew this would help Keith in the long run, but as of right now he felt like the worst friend ever. When he stopped, Keith had stopped resisting and was just lying there, panting and shuddering. The wound had started to bleed again, but all of the infection was gone. Hunk wrapped fresh gauze around the wound.

“Now what?”

“Now… we wait. The wound isn’t infected anymore, but the infection got into his bloodstream. We have to wait, wait and see if he’ll survive. Keep him warm, let him sweat it out.”

“And what about…”

“His mother? I don’t see how that matters at all. He’s still Keith. Does it really matter who his parents were?”

Lance shrugged. “Guess not.”

 

Keith was running, running, running away from Lotor, who kept appearing in front of him, laughing, wielding his wicked knife. He spun away and saw the Loyalists who had betrayed him, he could see his dad, reaching out before getting shot. Lotor reappeared again, stabbing him in the back repeatedly. _Die a traitor, Die a traitor, Die a traitor._

 

“How is he?”

“He’s getting worse. I don’t know what to do! How are the communications going?”

“I got in contact with the Resistance. They’re coming to pick us up. They can help Keith, I think.”

“They’d better come soon, then.”

 

 

Keith heard a faint bleeping in the distance, and he cracked his eyes open. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was Hunk cleaning out the wound and him… he groaned. He’d told them. He’d let it out while he was weak and delirious, and they’d probably told everybody else, and now he wouldn’t even have a chance. The bleeping continued. What was- oh. It was the sound of human hospital machines. But where…

His veins turned to ice. The only humans who had hospital machines were the Loyalists. They’d found him again. They’d found him, and they were going to take him back, and Lotor would _really_ kill him this time, or worse, turn him over to Haggar.

“Oh! You’re awake!” A girl in a nurse’s uniform smiled at him. “We weren’t sure you’d make it for a while, but you pulled through.”

Keith swung his legs out of the bed and made a run for it. He only made it a few feet when his back flared with pain and he sank into the wall, groaning.

“Wait, don’t get up, you’re still hurt! Don’t try to move too much!”

He ignored her, and, keeping one hand on the wall and the other one pressed to his front, trying to ignore the pain as he stumbled down the hallway.

“Hold on! You need to get back in bed!” The nurse grabbed his arm.

“I’m not going back!” He swung around and punched her. He was weak, and it didn’t do much, but she still let go. He felt a twinge of regret- she seemed to honestly care about his well-being, but still. He couldn’t stay. He couldn’t go back. He continued to stumble down the hallway, his back protesting every movement. The nurse pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

“Security, we have a Rodgers, I repeat, we have a Rodgers.”

Two burly men came around the bend of the hallway, arms outstretched to grab him, but he dodged them both and kept going. He was running on desperation now, spots dancing in front of his eyes. He made his way into a hangar. Ships! He could get out of here if he could… just… make it…

He stumbled and fell, his energy spent, about to collapse; somehow someone caught him. “Whoa, there, junior, you need to- Keith?”

Keith stared up at the scarred face, up at the fluff of white hair. He knew that face, changed though it was. “Shiro?” His eyes rolled back in his head, his knees buckled, and he passed out.

 

 

“Wait, how do you two know each other?”

Shiro smiled fondly at Keith’s sleeping form. “His dad was in the resistance. Not that Keith knew it. I visited sometimes. Then we were told Akira was dead and that Keith had disappeared. I had no idea where he’d went, and nobody else did either.”

“He was on Zarkon’s command ship. He said he’d been there since he was eight.

Shiro whistled. “Ten years on Zarkon’s ship. That right there is an amazing feat. I barely managed to survive one. Took some souvenirs from it.” He patted his metal arm.

“Keith took back some souvenirs too. I don’t know if he’s going to recover from that. Lotor is a psychopath sadist, and Keith had to work for him. He was kind of twitchy whenever we tried to help him.”

Shiro winced. “Poor Keith. I can’t believe I never knew… But we still have a problem.”

“What?”

“Iverson. Whether Keith stays or not is ultimately up to him. And if I thought bringing you guys and Pidge got me in trouble, you two are going to be in so, so much more.”

 

 

“So, let me get this straight. You not only _failed_ in your mission to kill Lotor, but you failed because you _stopped_ to help a slave. You’re saying you could have finished your mission, but you stopped for _this_?!” He waved a hand at Keith, who lowered his head.

“Sir, he dodged the bullets, there was nothing we could do!”

“You could’ve pursued him! But you just gave up!”

Hunk spoke up. “Sir? Where… where are the other members of the mission.”

Iverson lowered his head, closing his eyes. “They died. They died trying to kill Zarkon, and they almost did it too. Zarkon was badly injured, and Lotor had to take over.”

Keith sat bolt upright. “ _Lotor’s_ taking over?”

“Yes, and I agree that it’s bad, but it wouldn’t’ve happened if these two hadn’t screwed up.”

“No, you don’t understand! Lotor is ruthless! He’s cleverer than Zarkon, and he’s cruel enough to carry out his plans! And now he has the authority to do it!” He ran his fingers through his bangs, hyperventilating. “He’ll track us down and exterminate us all, you don’t understand, we’re _all going to die_!” He moaned and buried his head in his arms.

Iverson raised one eyebrow at Lance and Hunk. “You gave up killing Lotor for _this_.”

“He sword fought Lotor, and held his own! You think we shouldn’t include someone who can do that?!”

“Not if he’s going to be a gibbering wreck.”

Shiro put one hand on Keith’s arm. “Give him time. He’s been through a lot.”

“And meanwhile we have a psycho sadist on the throne. They discovered our spy and killed him, we lost some of our best men, and what have accomplished? We injured Zarkon and picked up a stray slave. Please tell me you at least took out his tracking chip.”

“We did.”

Keith bit his lip. “I think… you said you lost your spy? I could be a new spy.”

“ _You_? No, we need someone else.”

“Like who? How’re you going to get anyone on board?”

“How are _you_ going to get on board?”

“I’ll take a pod. I’ll lie my way back. Tell them you rejected me or something.”

“You assaulted the prince, who is now the emperor.”

“I can lie. I can do it. Please, just let me try. I have to. I can’t do nothing.”

“We can’t risk a pod on a maybe. You’re staying here where we can keep an eye on you.”

“Iverson, I know my word doesn’t count for much, but I think he can do it. Give him a chance.”

“You’re right. Your word doesn’t count for much, Shirogane. And neither do Lance’s or Hunk’s,” he added as Lance opened his mouth, “so don’t either of you try it.”

“But does mine?”

Iverson’s head whipped around and he stared at Pidge. “What?”

“I trust these three’s judgement more than I trust yours. You were about ready to throw me out, and look how useful I turned out. Only Shiro trusted me. So, I trust Shiro’s judgement. Let Keith have a shot at it. Let him try.”

“And if I still refuse?”

Pidge smiled. “Then I leave, and you lose the one person who can hack the Galra. Give him a chance.”

They stared each other in the eye, Pidge about half his height, but twice as ferocious. Iverson was the first to look away. “Fine. But if this blows up in our faces, then I’m holding each of you personally responsible. _Especially_ you,” he added, pointing to Keith, “So don’t screw up.” Keith gulped, but nodded. He could do this.

 

 

“Thanks.”

Lance looked up questioningly at Keith. “For what?”

“Defending me. It takes a lot to stand up to authority.”

Lance shrugged. “Iverson’s a _lot_ easier to stand up to than the Galra were. And besides, what’re friends for?”

“F-friends? You think of me as a… friend?”

Lance tilted his head at Keith. “Yeah. Of course. Haven’t you… haven’t you ever had a friend before?”

“Emotional attachments aren’t allowed. If the Galra think that prisoners are going to be giving each other hope, they’re separated.”

“Alright, then. Me, Hunk and Pidge will be your first friends, then! And Shiro, of course.”

Keith smiled. His first friends. Who would’ve known?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saving the Earth was a lot easier than anyone imagined. Getting back to earth... well, when you can't afford to crash and burn, it's a lot harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of Langst in this chapter. Fair warning.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine, Shiro. I came up with a fairly convincing lie, and I have a pretty high pain tolerance, so-”

“No, I mean are _you_ going to be okay? That place… it can’t have good memories. I don’t want you to go back if it’ll hurt you mentally.”

“Shiro, I _need_ to do this. This isn’t just for the resistance. This is for me. I have to do this for myself. I have to prove it to myself.” He turned to get onto the pod ship.

“Keith?” Shiro’s face was sad, but understanding. “Be careful.”

 

 

_Unidentified pod, identify yourself or you will be destroyed._

“This is…” Keith swallowed and cleared his throat. There was no going back after this. “This is number 41, ready to serve the Empire. Request permission to dock?”

There was a pause for a moment on the other side. _You are in so much trouble. We’re activating the tractor beam_. Keith felt a shuddering as his pod was pulled into the massive battleship. He opened the doors and put his hands up, walking out slowly where there were soldiers waiting for him.

“I’m unarmed. I just want to speak to Emperor L-” The rest of his words were cut off when one of the soldiers kneed him in the stomach, knocking all of the wind out of him. The soldier grabbed his arms and handcuffed them behind his back. “You… didn’t… need… to-”

The Galra backhanded him across the face. Keith could taste blood. “Shut up, half-breed. Lotor is going to be angry enough at you without you talking and making things worse. Now, march!”

 

 

“You have an awful lot of nerve, 41. Coming here after what you did.”

“Sir, I was-”

“I should kill you right here. But I’m slightly intrigued. Why did you come back? You had freedom. You could’ve joined the Resistance. So why did you come back?”

“I was instructed by his majesty, your father, if there were ever a rebel attack, to turn on you and join them, to spy on them and relate all to him.”

“And if that is so, why did I not hear anything of this?”

“Emperor Zarkon thought it would be better for the chances of their accepting me if you truly believed I had betrayed you.”

“And then, pray tell, why are you here?”

“I was unsuccessful in joining them; they did not trust me.”

“You had your freedom. Why didn’t you take it?”

Keith let out one long breath. He hadn’t thought of an answer for this question. “Because of my Galra heritage, no one trusts me. At least here I have purpose.”

Lotor’s eyes glinted with satisfaction. “You see? Running is futile. We, the Galra, are the only ones who will accept you. Remember that.”

“Yes sir.”

“I don’t believe you. I think there is always a possibility that you are lying. Therefore, Haggar will test if you are lying,”

Keith struggled to keep his expression neutral. “Yes, sir.”

“You don’t sound very worried.”

“I have nothing to fear since I’m telling the truth.”

“Very admirable. Haggar?”

“Why did you leave?”

“To become a spy.” It was true. She hadn’t specified _what_ he had left, and he _had_ left the _resistance_ in order to spy.

“Why didn’t you spy on them?”

“They didn’t want me.” That was also true. Iverson had wanted to throw him out.

“Why did you come back?”

“There’s nowhere else I can be useful.” Chances were Iverson would’ve never trusted him anyway, so it still wasn’t a lie.

Haggar glared at him and he calmly stared back. “…I detect no lies, my lord.”

Lotor inclined his head. “Still. You ran away, and by all laws, must be punished in the same way as every other escapee.” He waved a hand, and another Galra come over with a red-hot metal crest of the Galra. He unlocked Keith’s handcuffs, seized his forearm, yanking up his sleeve, and pressed the iron to his skin. Keith gritted his teeth and suppressed a shout as the red-hot iron seared the image of the Galra Empire onto his skin as if to say _you belong to us. Permanently. And don’t forget it._

“Now. You have proved to be slippery and troublesome, so I want you as my personal valet _all_ of the time, except at sleeping hours and hours allotted for meals. You will accompany me everywhere and do exactly as I say. Understood?”

“Understood.”

Lotor waved a hand. “Good. Someone take him to get a new tracking chip. And then I want him back here, where I can keep an eye on him.”

 

 

“You. Are. An. _Idiot_!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be putting a tracking chip on me?”

Anna pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you start getting fresh with me! You will listen to me rant!”

“Won’t they suspect something if I take too long?”

“I’ll tell them the chip didn’t take hold. Why did you come back?! You could’ve gotten away! You could’ve come back under other circumstances and saved us! Why did you come back?!”

“I had no choice.”

“You offered yourself on a silver platter!”

“At great risk to myself, might I add.”

“Which makes it even _more_ moronic!”

“Anna, I _promise_ I had good reasons. I can’t tell you right now, but it’ll all make sense one day, I _promise_.”

“Hmph. You better have some wildly great explanations. Get over here so I can chip you.”

 

 

“41, we’re going to swordfight.” Keith buckled Lotor’s sword to his waist, wanting nothing more than to run him through right there. He backed off. Lotor beckoned to him. “No, wait. I want to spar you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. You showed potential when we fought earlier, when you only had a knife. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t blast you out of the sky. I enjoy fighting people with raw talent.” He tossed Keith a sword and unsheathed his own. “Now, let’s see what your limits are.”

Keith unsheathed the sword, gripping it in one hand and charging Lotor, who easily blocked his first swing. And his second. And his third. Raw power wasn’t going to get him anywhere. If he wanted to beat Lotor, he would have to think like him. He ceased his heavy attacks and sized up his opponent. Lotor was bigger than him, and stronger. He was also agile, but Keith’s small size made him a more difficult target. Lotor’s sword had more reach, but it would also be harder to change the direction of the sword in mid-swing.

Lotor went on the offensive, swinging his sword at Keith, who brought up the flat of the blade and steadied the end with his hand to push against Lotor. Lotor used his height to press down on Keith, but Keith, in a sudden burst of instinct, agility and adrenaline that he hadn’t known was possible, bent over backwards, letting Lotor’s pushing force bring them both to the ground as he back-flipped, pushing his feet into Lotor’s chest and shoving the prince over his head. He landed and pivoted to face his opponent, never taking his eyes off of Lotor for a second.

Lotor rolled almost instantly to his feet, and for once, his face didn’t look cruel, manipulative or angry. Instead he looked… excited, but at the same time calculating how best to bring Keith down. He went on the offensive again, this time forcing Keith to dodge and move the blade to the side. He made one vicious swing towards Keith’s head, and Keith ducked under it instead of moving towards the side, getting under Lotor’s defenses and thrusting his sword towards Lotor’s chest. He had won.

But just before his sword hit home, Lotor, with a flick of his wrist, changed the direction of his sword, just enough for it to shift sideways and bury itself deep in Keith’s arm. Keith’s sword dropped out of his deadened hand, only inches away from its target and Keith made a strangled yelling sound at the sight of the sword buried in his flesh.

Lotor yanked the sword out with a squelching noise. “Don’t ever underestimate your opponent, 41. It’ll get you killed. Excellent trick with the flip, though. I didn’t know you had it in you. I suppose I underestimated you.” He looked without much concern at Keith’s wounded arm. “You should probably get that looked at before you lose it.”

 

 

“Where were you?”

Lance’s voice sounded loud and clear in Keith’s ear. He winced. He’d forgotten about the communication device the Resistance had put in his ear.

“Uh, they drugged me. Still a little woozy.”

“ _Drugged_ you? What for?”

“Sword wound.”

“Already? Kogane, you’ve only been there for a day! I do have to say, though, _excellent_ performance when you arrived. If we ever free Earth, I’m recommending you for an actor troupe.”

“Thanks.”

“Also, who was that girl you were talking to? She sounded hot.”

“Whose idea was it to put you on the line?”

“Iverson’s. He figured I couldn’t do too much harm here. He’s probably trying to find another suicide mission for me as we speak. Anyway, what happened?”

“Lotor decided he wanted to swordfight me.”

“I’m guessing he won.”

“Just a little. But I was _this_ close to stabbing him.”

“Well, that’s closer than I ever got. If you stop injuring yourself, you could be a very successful assassin.”

“41! Shut up and go to sleep!”

“Have to go. I’ll tell you as soon as I have anything worth reporting.”

“Alright. Try not to die too much.”

 

 

“I’m going to a meeting of Generals. You’re coming with me.” Lotor caught Keith’s confused face. “It looks impressive when you have a slave.” He tossed Keith a tablet with a stencil. “Just stand behind me and pretend to take notes on what everyone is saying. It doesn’t really matter. And take off that sling. It looks ridiculous. The wound isn’t _that_ bad.”

 

 

Keith stood behind Lotor, but instead of just pretending, he wrote down names of rebelling planets, as well as bigger things such as where factories were, how well protected they were, and what slave villages had less security. If he could just get this to the Resistance…

As the meeting drew to a close, he clicked on a messaging ability, typed in a code Lance had given him and sent the whole thing to the Resistance. This was the kind of information that they could use.

 

 

Lotor finished a message with one of his governors of Earth, two weeks after the council. When he turned off the message, his calm demeanor turned to rage and he punched the wall. “They knew! They knew everything! They took over a whole weapons factory!” He turned to Keith, who flinched, waiting for the first blow to fall. “One of my generals betrayed me. One of my governors! Tell me, 41. What is it that makes your race do this? What is it that makes them so… problematic?”

“Humans are… really resilient. Most, if they believe in something, will fight about it until either they die or their opponent gives up. And we have a long history of overthrowing conquerors. I guess it’s because… no matter how much you take away from humans, they always have hope.”

Lotor gripped the edge of his desk. “Hope,” he mumbled, “Hope would be a nice thing to have right now.”

 

 

Keith double-tapped his ear, activating his com. “Lance?”

“Actually, it’s Hunk right now.”

“Oh, hi, Hunk. I actually just have something to run by anyone who’ll-” he heard a muffled sob in the background. “Is that Pidge? What’s going on?”

“It- It’s Lance. He was sent on a mission to free a village, and it was a disaster. Everybody was killed.”

“No…”

“Lance was the only one who survived, but… they captured him, Keith! They’re taking him back to the control ship to be interrogated.”

“I’ll do something, I’ll get him out, I pro-”

“No, Keith. The last thing Lance said into his com was to tell you… to tell you that no matter what happened, not to blow your cover. He said to tell you to stay hidden.”

“I…”

“Promise, Keith. Promise that you’ll stay hidden. We need you.”

Keith growled and punched the wall. “Fine! I promise!” He turned off the com and curled into a ball. He wasn’t sure how long that promise would last.

 

 

“We captured one of the resistance, 41. He’s been brought here, and Haggar and I are going to interrogate him. You’re coming too.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. You’re human, aren’t you? Maybe you can help me.”

 

 

“Oh, I know you. I know you quite well, don’t I? You tried to kill me.”

Lance lifted his bruised and bloodied face. “Nearly did too, Galra bastard. Should’ve finished the job.”

Lotor turned to Haggar. “What did you get out of him so far?”

“Nothing, milord. He’s refused to talk.”

“41. You spent a short amount of time with the humans. How do you get information out of them?”

“Um… You don’t.”

“What?”

Keith squinted around at the room, words barely going through his brain before he said them out loud. “Humans don’t respond well to interrogation. Their brains shut down, locking any information you want away where no one can access it and the only thing that comes out of their mouths is sass, snarky comments and mindless, distracting banter.”

Lotor raised one eyebrow. “Is that so.”

Keith nodded knowledgably. “Especially the area of young, cocky males. It’s some kind of chronic mental disease that develops from reading too much fiction and a delusion that it is what the female species finds attractive.”

Lance let out a short choking laugh and his body shook with laughter.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” he sputtered, “It’s just that I’ve never heard it put that way before. He’s right. You should listen to him. Resisting the human nature will never work out. Give up before you waste valuable time and effort trying.”

Lotor slammed his fist on a table. “You think this is funny?! You think this is a game?! We will _break_ you! You will be _begging_ for us to kill you!”

Keith gulped. He’d heard that threat before, and it had happened. Prisoners had been turned to gibbering wrecks that were begging to be thrown out of an airlock. Whatever had been done to them, they would _never_ shake off. (Assuming the Galra didn’t respect their wishes and throw them out of the airlock.)

“I’d like to see you try.”

Lotor’s eyes glinted with the cruelty Keith had known for ten years, the look he had feared since he was eight. “Oh, believe me, we _will_ try. And we _will_ succeed.”

 

 

The instant the Galra night watch was satisfied that everybody was asleep and left, Keith popped up off of his pallet and snuck through the hallways, turning throughout the familiar corridors. He stopped at the prison cells and held his hand to the sensor, holding his breath and hoping his half-Galra DNA would be enough to trick the sensor.

 _Access granted._ The door slid open and Keith let out a sigh of relief as he shut the door behind him.

“Lance?”

A low moan answered him from the farthest prison cell and he ran towards it. He opened the door, and a huddled form on the shelf that served as a bed lifted its head.

“Keith? Is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me, are you alright?”

“I think we can both assume that I’m not okay.” Lance’s blanket slid off of him, and Keith let out a short hiss at the number of bruises and cuts that covered him, as well as his occasional shudders which were a telltale sign that Haggar had used her lightning on him.

“Did you…”

“I told them nothing.”

“Lance, Iverson contacted me today and said… he said that if it ever looked like you were going to talk that I… that I had to kill you.”

“Oh,” Lance said in a small voice, “Alright.”

“What, so you’re just accepting it? You’re fine with me just killing you?”

“Well, I don’t particularly want to die, so I guess that I can withstand an awful lot of pain if it means I survive.”

“Lance, I know that it’s basically your nature, but you _can’t_ mouth off to them! You _can’t_ because they will punish you for it, even worse than they’re already doing. You _have_ to stay neutral.”

“I can’t. I’m sorry, I just can’t. And I just had a thought. You’re in place. Why don’t you just kill Lotor?”

“The Galra don’t work that way. There will be anarchy, but not for long. The next strongest Galra will take his place. And then we’ll have to start over.”

“So we have to get them off of Earth first. We can’t just overthrow the government.”

Keith shook his head. “Not unless you feel like committing genocide.”

Lance let out a long sigh. “We’ll think of something. We’ll think of something.”

 

 

“41, I’ve arrested every single general at the meeting and am interrogating them, but it appears that they are all innocent of spying. What do you suggest?”

“Try all of the earthen governors. It could’ve just as easily been one of them.”

Lotor nodded. “I thought so. You know, 41, I think that you are the only one I can trust anymore. Everybody could be a traitor, but you’re always there. You’re a good soldier.”

 

 

“You know, I think Lotor’s mellowed out.”

Lance snorted. “That psycho? Nah, he’s a certified nutjob.”

“Well, yeah, but since his father was injured and he took control, he hasn’t been as cruel. He’s less likely to punish you for the smallest slipups and for whatever reason he keeps asking my opinion. I think without pressure from his father he’s actually become a better person.”

“Maybe, but the fact remains that he is an evil tyrant overlord who rules our planet.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

 

 

“41, we’re going to the torture chambers today.”

“What? Why?”

“Haggar thinks she’s found a foolproof way to get him to talk. I want to be there, and I need you with me. Come along.”

 

 

“So, what’s this new idea you’ve come up with?”

“Remember my quintessence draining machine?”

“How could I forget it?”

“I’m going to drain his quintessence if he refuses to talk. In theory, if he refuses, the quintessence drain will reduce him to a gibbering wreck who will spout whatever answers we need.”

“Do it.”

Keith looked down at Lance, who discreetly shook his head. He wanted Keith to keep his cover.

“Are you going to tell us what you know?”

“When hell freezes over.”

“Beginning quintessence drain in three, two, o- argh!” Haggar zapped the ceiling as Keith tackled her away from the machine.

“41! What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Helping out my race!” He charged Haggar, who slammed him with one massive blast of lightning, sending him flying down next to Lance. Lotor jumped down after him.

“41, there’s no point! His life is forfeit, and it doesn’t matter. No matter how many lives you save, no matter how many times you help them, the humans will reject you!”

Keith shuddered from all of the dark energy swirling through him. _Come on. Just a little closer._

“Stop this mutinous behavior!” Lotor lifted Keith up by his shoulders and shook him. “It will get you nowhere!”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Keith kicked Lotor in the stomach, causing him to double over, and grabbed his sword. With one fluid move, he sliced through Lance’s bonds and forced Lotor down, holding the sword to his throat. “We’re freeing Earth.”

“I can’t say I expected this.”

“Never underestimate your opponent. It’ll get you killed.”

“It was you. It was you, this whole time. It was never any of my generals or governors. It was always you. The one who I trusted.”

“A month of trust doesn’t make up for ten years of cruelty, Lotor. You’re going to set Earth free, and you’re never going to bother us again. Haggar, if you try to disappear, I’ll slit his throat. Stay where I can see you.”

 

 

“Attention, generals and governors. I declare Earth a lost cause. Leave the planet. It isn’t worth the trouble. There’s no point in keeping it. Leave now.” Lotor glared at Keith. “Happy now, you little traitor?”

“I can’t be a traitor to something I never supported. Lance and I are leaving. We’re going to Earth, and if any of you try to stop us, we’ll cut you down.”

“I know why you’re so anxious to leave. You’re going to collapse.”

“Shut _up_ Haggar.”

“You can feel it, can’t you? The dark energy sucking away your life force. It’s much more than I ever normally use, more than I ever used on your friend, and it’s going to kill you.”

“I _said_ , shut _up_. Lance, we’re leaving.”

“Yessssss. Leave while you can. Leave before you collapse. Run back to Earth like a good little coward. What will keep us from shooting you down when you’ve gone?”

“Lotor, at night I’ve been changing your wiring, as per an Earth friend’s instructions. This ship is one massive bomb. If you attack us while we leave or try to touch the Earth again, I’ll blow you to pieces. It may kill us too, but it’ll end your reign, and possibly destroy your grip on the universe. And don’t think you can fix what I’ve done, because touching it will trigger the explosion. Also, I’m taking all of the slaves with me. Tell them that.”

Lotor shook his head. “I cannot believe that you actually have the nerve for all of this. What happened to the slave who flinched whenever I walked into the room?”

Keith looked out the window at Earth, trying to ignore the loss of energy in his limbs. “I found something worth fighting for.”

Lotor sighed and gave the order to release the slaves. Keith and Lance left, locking the door behind them before Keith dropped the sword with a clang, leaning against the wall and trying to catch his breath.

“She wasn’t lying, was she. You’re losing energy.”

“I can make it to the pod. Are you going to be alright?”

“It’ll take more than two weeks of torture to put me off. Let’s get out of this hole.”

 

“Keith!” Anna rushed up and hugged him. Lance wolf-whistled, and Keith glared at him as Anna continued, “I can’t believe that you’re part of a resistance and that you actually managed to free Earth! Are we going there?”

“It’s not your home, I know. But it’s Galra free.”

“So _that’s_ why you came back. I knew you had secrets. But, well, I had secrets too. I, uh, well, it’s probably easier to show you than to tell.” She closed her eyes and the color bled out of her purple hair, leaving it white even as her dark-blue skin faded to a dark brown, little pink markings appearing under her eyes. “I’m not actually… well… I’m an Altean. The last of my kind. I am actually Princess Allura. I was asleep in a cryo pod for ten thousand years and when I came out… about a year ago, everything I knew was changed. I impersonated another species in order that the Galra not find out who I was. And, well, Altea is gone, but I’d like to help you rebuild your planet. If you want to.”

“Of course. We can make room on Earth for one more.”

“Hey, wait, there are a couple of humans here! Waitaminute. Pidge?”

The scrawny boy with square glasses frowned. “Who’s Pidge?”

“Ah, doesn’t matter, not important! Everybody onto the ship! We’re leaving!” Lance leaned towards Keith. “Uh, I think you should fly. Last time I flew we crashed in West Texas.”

“Sure.” Keith stepped towards the cockpit and felt a massive tug on his energy. He blinked as the world turned in and out of focus, Lance’s voice getting louder and softer.

“Uh, Keith? Buddy? You-”

Lance’s voice went completely mute as the ground rushed up to meet Keith’s face. All he could see was Haggar’s black lightning dancing in front of his eyes, and hear her cackle in his head.

 

Allura leaned down to check Keith’s pulse and hauled him up to support him before turning to Lance. “Keith’s down. Lance, you’re going to have to fly.”

“Me?”

“I know you aren’t very confident in your abilities, but you have to. If you don’t, we’re all going to die. Please, Lance.”

Lance gulped. He had spent practically this whole time worthless. Keith had been the hero, the one who really saved the day, and he was just Keith’s goofy sidekick. But now… now they needed _him_ to be the hero. The pilot. The brave leader.

“Alright.”

 

 

“Now?”

Haggar tapped her foot. “In a moment… I believe he’s down. Even with his half-Galra genes, he can’t keep up with the lightning for long. He won’t be able to pilot them out. To use Earth terms, they’ll be sitting ducks.”

 

 

“Everybody, hold tight. This is going to be bumpy.” Lance let out a long breath and put his hands on the controls. This was it. He began to flip switches, pressing the throttle and swooping out into space.

The Galra immediately began firing, and Lance let loose a curse as he tucked the ship into a roll, barely avoiding the blasts as they were fired. He made a desperate leap forward and swooped suddenly under one of the ships, causing the other ships to shoot it instead of him, effectively taking it out. He used the dying ship for cover as long as he could, flying towards the blue and green marble that was Earth.

Just then, he heard a sound that almost made his heart stop. It was the same sound he’d heard right before his engine had burst into flames while trying to pilot to Earth from his failed assassination attempt. He was going to go down in a spectacular fireball again, this time with a ship full of passengers.

“Allura! Get in here!”

Allura practically materialized in the cockpit. “What’s wrong?”

“Something’s on fire. If I don’t fix it, we’re going to crash and burn. I need you to keep this on course. If something shoots as us, just move that thing there way to the side and hope for the best, okay?”

“Alright, but I don’t know-”

“I know, but the last time this thing broke we crash-landed and nearly killed ourselves. I can’t take that risk with all these people.”

Allura nodded determinedly. “Alright. Good luck.”

Lance took a deep breath inside his spacesuit as he opened the airlock and clipped himself to the wing. He was no mechanic, but he knew that he needed to at least stop the fires. He patted them out, wondering briefly how they survived without oxygen when a blast nearly hit them and Allura banked right, _hard_. Lance went toppling over on the wing and struggled to regain his balance as he twisted some of the burned wires back together.

And then it happened.

The thing he’d been absolutely terrified about.

They dodged another blast.

But it hit Lance’s lifeline.

And sent him tumbling into space.

Lance spiraled away from the ship, right back towards the shooting Galra. He’d done it, though. He’d fixed the ship. Hopefully Allura could get the ship down to Earth, and the others would survive. He would be the only one to die. The only one to be forgotten. The only one left behind. He closed his eyes.

Suddenly, he was being dragged back to the ship, the boy who looked like Pidge leaning out of the airlock with a spacesuit on, grappling hook attached to Lance’s suit as he reeled him back into the ship.

“You can’t die! We need you!”

 _We need you._ Three simple words, but they were what saved him. Just what he needed to hear. He was needed. People needed him. He was their hero.

Lance tore to the cockpit where Allura moved out of the way, letting him take over the controls. He exhaled and then pushed the engines to the maximum, screaming through space and turning the ship into a complicated series of twists and turns, dodging every blast the Galra sent, every laser aimed to destroy them.

“We’re going through Earth’s atmosphere! Everybody hold tight, because this is going to get bumpy!” He pushed on the controls, sweat dripping down his face from the exertion, hoping, _praying_ that the ship didn’t catch fire.

“Allura, com Earth! Tell them not to shoot!”

Allura nodded and started speaking into the headset as Lance steered them carefully towards the planet. Something caught fire as they entered the atmosphere, and Lance gritted his teeth. This was it. All or nothing. Either he would save them or destroy them. He pulled the ship up as they drew closer to the ground and turned on the thrusters, slowing their descent. But he was too late. The ground had been much closer than it appeared, and they were going to crash into it.

“Everybody, hang on!”

They skidded into the earth, plowing a trench as dust flew up everywhere. Lance could hear people being thrown into the walls and some people screaming before they stopped with a grinding crunch. Lance jumped up and ran for the door, leaping out into the sun.

The sun! It’d been so long since he’d seen or felt it, trapped in that cell for so long. He’d almost forgotten what it meant to be warm. He hadn’t known how much he needed the sun until he didn’t have it anymore.

Allura climbed out of the wreckage, helping a still-weak Keith, who was beaming, his eyes bright. “You did it, Lance. You’re the hero.”

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lotor is an incredibly sore loser, and Pidge finally gets her wish.

“Come on!”

“What? Where’re we going?”

“Turns out there’s a pool here! Hunk, Pidge and I are going swimming!”

“Are you sure- are you sure we’re allowed?”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Keith, it’s fine. We’re, like, eighteen, and we just saved the world. We deserve a break. Besides, what can they do? We’re heroes! They touch us, they’re dead.

“Alright.”

 

 

“Come on, Keith! Get in the water! Don’t just sit there and dangle your feet in!”

“I uh,” Keith coughed, and continued in a small voice, “Icantswim.”

“What?”

Keith looked at the ground, embarrassed. “Well, you know, there’s not a lot of water in space, and you have to conserve it. So there’s not exactly enough for things like pools soIneverlearnedtoswim.”

“Alright, then!” Lance splashed out of the pool. “We’re going to teach you, then! Go to the end of the diving board!”

Keith obliged, eyeing Lance suspiciously as he walked up behind him on the board.

“Alright. Watch very closely.”

He pushed Keith into the pool. Keith surfaced, sputtering and glaring at Lance.

“You total jerk! What was that for?!”

Lance sat down on the end of the board, laughing. “That’s how I learned to swim! My siblings picked me up and chucked me into the deep part of a lake! That’s how all of us learned to swim.”

“That’s awful!”

“Sink or swim, buddy. That’s how it goes.”

“Jerk,” Keith muttered, but he seemed to be over it and enjoying swimming.

Lance just kept laughing and shaking his head. Something wrapped around his ankle and pulled him into the pool as he shouted, taking in a mouthful of water.

Keith stuck his tongue out and swam away, his movements awkward but enough to propel him through the water.

“Are you pouting?”

Keith ignored him.

“My gosh, you _are_ moping. Good Lord, Keith, you’re as mature as a five-year-old!”

“That was dirty.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on! It’s not that bad!”

Keith ducked his head underwater, and Lance rolled his eyes again. Drama queen. He turned to Pidge.

“Have you seen the other slaves yet?”

She shook her head. “No. Why?”

“Well, there was this one who looked just like you. Like, you right now. Not before we, uh, cut your hair.”

Pidge frowned. “Well that’s… odd. I’ll have to check that out. Who knows, maybe I’ve got a clone or something.”

“That’d be really cool! I mean, he’s definitely a he, so he’d be genetically modified, but what would you name him?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’d name him Pidge and go back to being Katie.”

“I think you should name him something cool, like Kuron!”

Pidge snorted. “That is the stupidest name that I have ever heard.”

“Uh, guys? Not to interrupt your conversation or anything, but Keith never came up for air.”

“What?” Lance turned and dove for the spot Keith had gone under. He’d assumed that Keith had still been brooding, but what if he’d drowned? Maybe he had some kind of Galra ability to breath underwater, but Lance doubted that very much.

Sure enough, Keith was screaming wordlessly and sucking in water before curling into a ball and shuddering. Lance frowned. That right there was not normal drowning behavior.

“Hunk! Help me get him up!”

The two boys heaved Keith out of the pool, and he shuddered again. It almost looked like… but it wasn’t possible. Keith looked like he’d been electrocuted, or was being repeatedly shocked with a Taser.

“Hunk, see if you can get the water out of his lungs! I’m going to find someone who might know what’s going on!”

He poked his head out of the door and saw Shiro walking by. “Shiro! Shiro, we need help! Keith’s all shudder-y and we don’t know what’s going on!”

Shiro was inside in seconds and at Keith’s side. Keith was breathing again, and Hunk had a pleased but also worried expression on his face. Keith was still shuddering, and Shiro shook his head.

“I know what this is. On slaves that actually ran away but were later caught, they would put shocking devices in their tracking chips so if they ever ran away again, the Galra could just zap them and collect their unconscious body.”

“Well, what do we do?! Hunk already shut down the chip, but it’s still going!”

“We’re going to have to cut it out again. But you have to be careful. If you try to take it out at the wrong moment, it’ll short out his nerve cells. In other words, he’ll be paralyzed.”

Hunk gulped. “Be careful. Got it. Um, should I get a scalpel, or…”

“No time. He’ll be gone in a minute if this continues.” Shiro’s arm started to glow a fierce purple. “I’m going to hate myself later for this. Where do I cut?”

Hunk gave him instructions, and Keith let out a howl of pain as Shiro cut into his skin with the tip of his finger. Lance and Pidge winced. Hunk and Shiro couldn’t afford to.

“There! Stop!” Hunk waited for Keith’s shuddering to subside as the latest electrical shock zapped through him and then yanked the chip off. He and Shiro let out twin sighs of relief and Shiro let his arm power down.

“I didn’t know your hand could do… that.”

“The druids gave me ‘upgrades.’ Their mistake. They didn’t know I was part of the Resistance; they thought I was some kind of ignorant hix who knew his way around a fight.” Shiro picked Keith up. “Let’s get him somewhere he can get warm and recover.”

 

 

“What… What happened?” Keith winced and struggled to pull himself into a sitting position, rubbing his head.

“Lotor is a sore loser. According to Iverson, he activated every electric shocker chip on Earth to get back at us. There… there were a lot of deaths. Not everybody managed to cut theirs out.”

“Oh.”

“In retaliation… Iverson blew up the command center. The Galra are going to have a hard time pulling everything together; it blew out a _lot_ of their fleet.”

“Are we going to attack? I mean, they’re weak! We could free the rest of the universe!”

Shiro shook his head. “Iverson says we’re too fragile to start a fight. Also, we’re recovering fairly well because most people remember what the world was like before the Galra, but other planets have been conquered for millenniums. If there’s sudden freedom, it’ll create a power vacuum and anarchy.”

“What, so we just leave them at the mercy of the Galra?”

“We don’t have much choice.”

“Rrgh. Sometimes I just want to- Argh!”

“Basically my feelings for as long as I’ve worked with Iverson.”

Keith looked around, noticing that something was off. “Where’s Pidge?”

 

 

Pidge searched through the hospital, hoping beyond hope. A clone, yeah right. If she was right, if that boy was who she thought he was… her search could finally be over. She could have them back again. She tapped a nurse’s shoulder.

“Excuse me. There were some human slaves who were brought here, I was wondering…”

The nurse smiled at her. “Of course. One of them is in kind of critical condition: He was older and couldn’t keep up as well, and nobody is allowed to see him. But the younger one is recovering nicely, and you can say hi if you want. Any particular reason you want to talk to them?”

“Oh, uh, some family went missing, and…”

Her gaze softened. “I see. Here, come with me; Iverson’s cranky and might try to stop you on your own, but he shouldn’t stop you if you’re with me.”

The nurse led her through a pair of double doors and through the rows of hospital beds. Pidge found herself staring at all the aliens. There were so many of all shapes and sizes, she could hardly believe it. She could have a field day running tests (with permission, of course) and learning more about their culture.

“All right, here we are. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

Pidge took a deep breath and forced herself to look at the bed. If it wasn’t him, if she had been wrong… no. She had to believe.

“Matt?”

The human shaped lump in the bed pulled off the covers, blinking owlishly at the light, and Pidge let out a scream of joy.

“Matt!”

“Katie?! Katie, you’re here! I can’t believe it!”

Pidge ran and wrapped her arms around her brother, and although his grip was weak, he was still hers, still her brother, her friend, her family. And nothing could change that.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro has danke tracking skills. WARNING: THERE IS GOING TO BE A VERY DARK AND DISTURBING SCENE IN THIS CHAPTER. I WILL WARN YOU WHEN IT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN.

Iverson decided to loosen up and throw a party. Everybody was shocked (a couple of people actually called the doctors to check him out), but welcomed it. After all, they’d ended an eighteen-year-old reign of terror on Earth. They deserved a party. Even the Resistance members who had done practically nothing deserved a little recognition for their effort.

And that was how Keith had come to be sitting as far away from the festivities as possible. He didn’t like parties; he’d seen too many that used gladiatorial events as entertainment. Or that used other, more gruesome events that he didn’t like thinking about.

“No.”

“Commander, I think it would be in your best interests-”

“No.”

Keith crept through the bushes, trying to listen in on Iverson and Anna- no, _Allura’s_ conversation.

“But I believe-”

“What? That there’s a sparkles and rainbows magical blue lion superweapon on Earth? I _think_ the human race would’ve noticed if we had one of those.”

“Perhaps, if it were hidden-”

“Perhaps nothing! I’m not wasting good men and effort on an alien fairy-tale!” He stormed off, leaving a glaring Allura behind.

“Human race would’ve noticed,” she muttered angrily, “I doubt it if they’re all as thick skulled as you.”

“Um… Allura?”

She spun to face him. “Oh! Keith! Hello! I didn’t realize you were there!”

“Yeah. Um. Sorry about eavesdropping. But… you said blue lion? There was a cave near my home that had carvings of a lion all over it. Do you… Do you think that could be important? I mean, I just kind of wandered in, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but you said blue lion… and I… remembered…” he trailed off, looking at her expectantly.

“Keith, that’s it! The blue lion _must_ be there! Or at least a clue to it! Thank you, so much! Can you bring me there?”

“Yeah. Sure thing. But what…”

“Oh! Sorry! The blue lion is a, well, it’s a mechanical lion my father created. There were five of them, but… the Galra already had three of them when I woke up, and they destroyed my Castle to get the fourth.”

“So… the Galra have superweapon robot lions? How come they haven’t used them?”

“The lions don’t work that way. They have to have a… a kind of bond. There are people meant to fly certain lions, and that is the way it must go. Right now… well, the green, red, blue and yellow lions don’t have paladins, but the black lion… well, Zarkon was its paladin. The problem, well, I suppose it was a blessing for us, is that the black lion appears to have a major internal conflict. It’s trying to choose between Lotor and Zarkon.”

“Neither of which are a good option.”

“Exactly. But with everything in chaos, what with the exploding command center and all, we may have a chance to rescue the lions. If we can only find the blue lion. But now that we may have… I don’t know, I just have a feeling, deep down, that you or one of your friends is supposed to be the blue lion’s pilot.”

“Well, I highly doubt it’s me. I was in those caves a thousand times, and nothing special happened.”

“You must have found those caves for a reason, though.”

“Well… when my dad was there with me, he said some really nuts stuff about how we had to protect the cave for the true owners…”

“I see. Well then, we’ll just have to bring along everybody and see what happens! Why don’t you go get them?”

“Alright.” Keith walked back into the darkness, smiling. A superpowered lion! The possibilities were endless!

There was one possibility he hadn’t been expecting though. He never suspected that the simple act of walking back to the campfire would prove catastrophic. Not until _after_ something slammed into his head, knocking him backwards onto the ground. He barely had time to think _not this again_ before passing out.

 

 

“Hey, has anyone seen Keith?”

Pidge shrugged in answer to Shiro’s question. “I think he went off to be alone or something. I haven’t seen him in a while.”

Shiro frowned. He’d wanted to talk to Keith earlier; the poor guy had been practically having heart attacks every time the fire popped, or any time someone did anything remotely loud. It was always possible that he had, as Pidge had suggested, gone to be alone. But some instinct, some seemingly irrational instinct was telling him otherwise. And Shiro hadn’t gotten this far by trusting reason alone and ignoring his instincts.

 

 

Keith’s head was pounding, and he could practically feel a lump forming on his head. Also, his arms hurt. Why did his arms hurt? He cracked his eyes open, and suppressed a shout. He was dangling about five feet above the ground, chains looped in slip knots around his wrists and hung over a tree. So _that_ was why his arms felt like they were going to fall off. Well. He certainly wasn’t going to stay like this.

He spared a glance over at his captors. Galra. But why… He studied the way they held themselves, the way they talked. Deserters. Galra who didn’t want to fight. Most of the time it was because they’d been infected by peaceful ideas, but there were those who just didn’t want laws. Keith would answer in a heartbeat that the Galra under Emperor Zarkon or Lotor were cruel and terrible, but these were worse. They answered to no one and were scared of nothing. They would pillage and destroy to their heart’s content, killing and taking what they needed from the locals by force. And, just his luck, he’d been kidnapped by them. They must have been left behind when the other Galra blasted off.

They seemed fairly occupied by what they were doing, so Keith started swinging back and forth. The chains tore at his skin, but he ignored it. All he needed was to swing up, grab the branch and flip over so he could sit on the branch and get the chains off. If he could just… get… up… to… the… branch…

He overshot and slammed into the branch he was hanging from, _hard_. He managed to wrap his legs around it, though, flipping upside-down.

“Crud,” he grunted, “This is just _fantastic_.” He tugged at the chains with his teeth, trying to loosen the knot, and felt it give a little. He worked harder as the blood rushed to his head, making him a little dizzy.

“Just… a… little… bit…” With a clank, the chain fell off and he grabbed the tree branch and pulled himself up, yanking off the other chain and rubbing feeling back into his wrists. Much better. Now what? He had no idea what direction he’d gone in, but any direction seemed good as long as he was away from the deserters. Never mind which way. He slid down the tree trunk, creeping carefully away, hoping that they didn’t choose this particular moment to look for him.

Something tightened around his ankle and yanked, slamming him into the ground before yanking him back up into the air. He let out a yelp as the blood began to make a sudden rush for his head. His Galra captors ran over at the sound of his shout to find him slowly revolving, hanging upside-down by one leg.

“This,” he told them, pointing one finger at the trap, “was completely overkill.”

 

 

“What do you mean, Keith is missing?”

“I _mean_ , Allura, he disappeared from the party, and no one’s seen him since.”

Allura frowned. “That can’t be right. We were just talking and I sent him off… to get… you…”

Shiro shook his head. “He never got back. Where was the last place you saw him?”

 

 

“Aw, man. I can’t believe Keith’s gone off _again_. Why does _he_ get to do all of the fun stuff?!”

Hunk sighed. “Lance, he’s missing. That doesn’t mean he’s doing “fun stuff.” It could just as easily mean that he’s been kidnapped.”

“Hmph. Ten bucks says he got lost.”

“Well, Lance,” Shiro interjected, “That looks like a bet you’re going to lose. Look.” He pointed to a set of footprints. “Those are Keith’s. You can tell because of the size.”

“What?”

Shiro sighed. “Compared to you or I, Keith has fairy feet because of his size, but these are bigger than, say, Allura’s, implying that they’re male. Ipso facto, these are Keith’s footprints.”

“Alright. But why do I lose my bet?”

Shiro pointed at a section of the ground where other bootprints intercepted and overran Keith’s.

“Okay, so someone else came this way. That doesn’t mean…”

“There’s an indentation of a human body, and then…” Shiro walked along the bigger bootprints, pointing to two small trenches. “Someone was dragged. He measured the heel of one of Keith’s bootprints with his finger and then compared it to the trenches. “Those are his heel marks, alright.”

“So…” Allura ventured, hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

Shiro stood up, shaking his head. “Keith’s been kidnapped.”

 

 

“What do you even want?”

“None of your business. We’ll tell you when we’re closer.”

“I don’t know, it seems like if you’re going to kidnap me, I at least need to know what you want.”

“Figure it out.”

“Well, you’re not ransoming me. Nobody would pay for me, well, at least not anybody who has a say-so. It’s not like you can turn me in, because there’s nowhere _to_ turn me in, and you said that you’d tell me when we got closer, which means you need my help for something. Alright, then.”

“We don’t need your help. We just need your information. Where’s the blue lion?”

“The blue lion? Why would I know that?”

“We heard you talking to the Altean princess. You know where it is.”

“No. I have an _idea_ of where it _might_ be. Marginally large difference. Why do you want it, anyway?”

“We don’t want to live on this stinking planet anymore. People used to be scared of us and would give us whatever we wanted, but now they just try to shoot us on sight.”

“You deserve it.”

“Lotor promised amnesty to anyone who brought him the blue lion. Or your head on a spike.” The Galra grinned at him, revealing teeth that were tinted red. “Our lucky day. We might even get promoted.”

“I’m not ever going to tell you where the blue lion is. My dad said that my family had to protect it. I’m guessing that meant from people like you.”

“We can find it without you. But we know that if any of us were meant to fly it, we could feel it. You, however… well, you’ve been around. If anyone could fly it, it’s you.”

Keith thought back to his conversation with Allura. Chances were, he _couldn’t_ fly it, but if these bozos thought he could, that was the only reason he was alive. And he intended to stay that way until he could escape, or until his friends could rescue him.

“Wait. You just said you could find it without me. But earlier, you said you needed me to tell you the location. Why the change?”

“We would _prefer_ if you would just tell us. That would make life easier. So then. What’ll it be?”

“Never happening.”

“I thought you’d say that. You humans are ridiculously stubborn.”

WARNING: THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET DARK AND DISTURBING; IF YOU WANT TO SKIP THIS SCENE, GO AHEAD AND SKIP IT. WHEN YOU SEE VERY LARGE CAPITAL LETTERS LIKE THESE YOU WILL KNOW IT IS SAFE TO START READING AGAIN.

There was silence for a few moments, the only sound the sound of Keith tugging on the ropes around his wrists with his teeth and then everybody’s ears pricked up. Someone nearby was singing. Keith opened his mouth to shout a warning, but one of the Galra clapped a hand over his mouth.

“Hush. He might not come this way.”

To Keith’s dismay, the voice _did_ get closer, and an alien wandered in before freezing as he took in the situation. His eyes darted over the Galra and on Keith’s tied up hands.

“Hold on! I’ll get help.” He darted away, and the lead Galra took aim.

“Wait!” Keith put his hand on the barrel of the gun. “Don’t kill him! I’ll tell you where the lion is, just don’t kill him!”

He and the Galra both stared each other in the eyes, and the Galra lowered his gun. Keith let out a sigh of relief and took his hand off of the barrel.

Faster than his eye could follow, faster than he could move to stop it, the Galra lifted his gun and let out a shot, which winged its way to the alien’s heart. Keith closed his eyes as a cry of pain rang out followed by an awful, terrible silence.

“Get the body.”

His cronies complied, and the leader examined the body like it was a prime steak.

“What do you think? I think two weeks, at least.”

“That’s all we need, yeah? Two weeks?”

“Would be faster if we had a decent vehicle like the resistance’s.”

“Well, we don’t. Alright, then. Get to work.”

Keith’s brow crinkled. “What do you mean, get to-”

The Galra set upon the body with blinding speed, stripping off his clothes and pulling out knives. Keith didn’t want to watch, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away as the Galra peeled away the tough skin of the alien with the skills of expert hunters. He watched, absolutely horrified as they stripped the meat of off his bones, burying his guts and head under a rock and throwing the pieces of him into a big cooking pot.

“What are you _doing_?!”

“Cooking. We need food, you know.”

Keith moved his foot out of a puddle of blood and promptly vomited into the bush next to him. He had seen some terrible things in his life, but this was by far the worst. He had _never_ seen _anything_ that repulsed him more than this. That alien hadn’t deserved this. He had just wandered in. Shooting him was bad enough, but this? This was inhumane, even by Galra standards.

A bowl of cooked meat landed at Keith’s feet, and he gagged. “I’m _not_ eating that.”

“Why? Is it not to his majesty’s liking?”

“That- he was a sentient being!”

“And now he’s food. It’s not like it’s cannibalism; he wasn’t human _or_ Galra.”

“That’s awful!”

“Why?”

“Because he was a real live, living person with thoughts and feelings!”

“And…”

“And it’s cruel to eat him!”

“Fungi would’ve decomposed his body anyway, assuming the ants and vultures didn’t get him first. Circle of life. He can’t feel the pain anymore. Besides. You’re a human, so you don’t exactly get to talk. You kill each other all the time.”

“Yeah, but that’s murder and is generally frowned upon! Mostly it’s spur of the moment anger! You actually have to think about this and do it anyway!”

The Galra shrugged. “I don’t know. Humans kill their own children all the time. I don’t see how this is any worse. At least we weren’t related, or even the same species. Now, are you going to eat that or not?”

“No!”

“Well, it’s all we’ve got, so it’s either that or go hungry for two weeks.”

“I’ll go hungry.”

The Galra shrugged and picked up the bowl. “Suit yourself.” He popped a piece of meat in his mouth. “You’re missing out. Delicious meat.”

Keith fought back another wave of nausea and continued to try to get his bonds off.

 _Please,_ he thought, sending out a silent hope to his friends, _Please get here soon._

 

ALRIGHT YOU CAN START READING AGAIN. IF YOU WANT TO NOW WHAT HAPPENED WITHOUT THE GRUESOME DETAIL, JUST ASK ME. 

“They were here.”

“Oh, really, Sacagawea. What tipped you off? The smoking firewood or the remains of a meal?” Lance wrinkled his nose. “Geeze. I’m a slob, and even _I_ think this is disgusting.”

Shiro shot Lance a look and then spotted a glimpse of something white. He reached for it and then yelped. It was a bone, picked clean.

Lance caught sight of it and bit his lip. “You don’t think that’s…”

“No. It’s too light to be a human bone.”

Lance glanced back at Allura and then pulled Shiro to the side. “Um, well. This isn’t really my secret to tell, but, well, Keith’s kind of half Galra.”

“He’s _what_? How did you find _that_ out?”

Lance toed the ground embarrassedly. “He was kind of delirious from fever and thought we were hurting him for being half Galra. But anyway, point being, is there any way that maybe that made his bones lighter?”

Shiro shook his head. “No, the Galra have heavier, thicker bones. If anything, Keith’s bones would be heavier if he really is half Galra.”

Lance let out a sigh of relief. He may have been captured by homicidal aliens, but at least Keith wasn’t a pile of bones.

 

 

Keith tugged at the chain wrapped in a pile in the seat next to him. When he’d been up in the tree, he’d noticed that the chains were not put together well. It was easy to pull off one of the links and drop it behind the slow-moving car. If he couldn’t escape by himself, he would have to have a backup plan.

 

 

Shiro’s boot clinked against something and he looked down to see a little metal link. He picked it up, confused and then saw another one a few feet away, and another one after that. He smiled as he moved in that direction. _Clever boy,_ he thought to himself, _you left a trail._

 

 

Keith stomach growled as the smell of cooking meat drifted from the Galra’s campfire, but he pushed down the hunger. There was no way he was going to eat that. Ever. Even if it meant he starved.

 

 

“Do you know what’s wrong with him? He’s wilting.”

“He needs to eat. Humans can’t go forever without food, although they can go quite a while. Should we make him eat something?”

“Naw. If the stubborn fool wants to starve, then he’ll starve. But humans are pathetic. I’m pretty sure he’ll give up soon.

 

 

“We’ve arrived at the pathetic shack you call home. Last chance. Are you going to tell us where the blue lion is?”

Keith lifted his head from the back of the truck, stomach shrunk, but eyes still blazing with defiance. “Never.”

 

 

“Shiro, I think we need to go this way.”

Shiro’s brow creased as he looked in the direction Lance was pointing. “The trail goes this way.”

“I know, but I just have this feeling, like we _have_ to go this way.”

“You didn’t happen to gain a psychic connection with Keith, did you?”

Lance let out a snort. “Anything but that. Please. I just… we _need_ to go this way.”

Allura narrowed her eyes. Could Lance be… “Shiro, I think we should follow Lance on this one.”

Shiro considered in his head. He hadn’t known Allura for very long, but he trusted her judgement. If she said they should follow Lance… “Alright. Lance, you lead the way.”

 

 

“Hey! This one has carvings of lions in it!”

The lead deserter smiled, showing all of his pointed teeth. “Excellent. You see, we _didn’t_ need you to tell us. Now, get up. It’s time to fly.”

Keith closed his eyes for a moment. They’d found it. He didn’t know how long he could stall before they realized he wasn’t going to be able to find the lion, much less fly it.

_Please, Shiro. Hurry._

“Well? Do your thing! Get the lion!”

“I don’t think the lion is here. It’s probably just a clue as to where the lion really is.”

“Stop your stalling! If you can’t fly it, no one can! Now get in here!”

He yanked Keith by his collar, but Keith planted his feet and yanked away, making a break for the exit.

“Hey! Get his legs!”

The sound of a stunner buzzed through the cave, and Keith felt his legs go numb as he crashed to the floor, lying helpless for a minute. He tried not to smile when the Galra yanked him up to eye level and tried to keep his hands in the semblance of being tied. Hopefully in the dark cave, no one would notice that he’d cut the ropes on a sharp rock when he’d fallen.

“What was that? Was that your idea of an escape attempt? You can’t run from us.”

Keith shuddered. That was uncannily like what Lotor had told him.

“Now, are you going to find this lion, or not?”

“No.”

“Excuse me? If I didn’t know that I have such terrible hearing, I would’ve thought you said no.”

“Your hearing is fine. I’m not going to find the lion for you. I’m not bonded to it, and I’ll never find it. You came all the way out here with the wrong person.” Keith smiled smugly. “You’re never getting off of this planet, and it’s only a matter of time before a human sees you and kills you. You’ll all die, and all of the people you killed will be avenged. You’re going to die violently, surrounded by people who hate you.”

The Galra leader howled and threw Keith to one side, his still-numb legs folding beneath him. He watched smugly as the Galra slammed his fist a wall. Even if he died, he would be perfectly happy knowing that the Galra weren’t going to get the lion. He could die in the satisfaction of knowing that he was right.

“Are you telling us that we’re going to stay here on this filthy planet forever?”

The leader looked up at his henchmen, who seemed ready to mutiny, panic in his yellow eyes. “No, of course not! We’re going to find the real pilot.”

“We don’t know who the real pilot is. It could be anyone!”

“ _We_ don’t know. But _he_ does.” The leader pointed to Keith, whose smug smile vanished.

“What?!” He was on to him. He might not know the exact person, but narrowing it down to one out of four people would certainly make their lives easier.

“You knew you were the wrong person. Which means… you know who’s the right one. You thought you could protect them, but we’ll get it out of you.”

“Oh, you really think so? I know you’re going to kill me. You already said you were. And you know what? Knowing who is the pilot is the only thing keeping me alive, so I doubt that I’ll ever tell you that.”

“You’ll talk. Eventually. But right now, we’re leaving. We’re going back to your little shack. And we’re going to make you wish you’d never been born.”

 

 

“In here!” Lance ran up to the cave. “It’s here! I can tell!”

Shiro spotted a small link. “It looks like they came this way too. And it also looks like they didn’t leave that long ago. Good job, Lance.”

“Yeah, hey, there are some really cool pictures on this wall! Like a robot lion!”

“What? Let me see!”

Everybody stampeded into the cave, even normally stately Allura rushing in. Lance pointed to the pictures.

“Look.” He wiped some dust off of them, and the floor started to shake beneath them as the images began to glow.

“Lance! What did you do?!”

“I don’t know!”

“Everybody, remain calm! Lance, I can’t believe it! It’s you!”

“Allura, you’re freaking me out!”

The floor beneath them broke open, and they all tumbled down a water slide, screaming. When they came to a halt at the bottom, Lance looked up to see a majestic blue lion, surrounded by a glowing barrier. And he felt, somehow, that he was home.

 

 

Keith looked behind him. The cave was getting further away, but he couldn’t give up. He concentrated on wiggling his toe, and almost crowed in delight when he saw it twitch and felt feeling slowly but surely return to his legs. He could make it. All he had to do was…

He glanced at the Galra. They were all occupied. No one was paying any attention to him. He mock saluted their backs, got up, and jumped out of the car.

“What the quiznek was that!”

“Did he jump? Quiznek, he jumped!

He heard shouts from the car as he tumbled on the ground, rolling across the desert sands. Shaking sand out of his hair like a dog would shake water out of its fur, he spit out a mouthful of sand. The cave wasn’t too far. He could make it. All he had to do was run.

 

 

Keith drew level with the cave, frowning as he saw footprints in the sand. Someone else had been there. Humans, judging by the size and shape. But the wind hadn’t blown away their footprints… they couldn’t’ve gotten here that long ago. He entered the cave more cautiously.

“Hello?”

A yawning pit opened up in front of him. That had _definitely_ not been there before. He glanced in. Should he jump? Angry voices sounded faintly nearby. The Galra were getting nearer. He shrugged and jumped into the pit, shouting.

 

 

Lance looked away from the lion as he heard a shout from above. What on earth could possibly- He moved out of the way as Keith splashed down next to him.

“Hey.”

Keith jumped up, brushing himself off. “Hey. There are some large, angry Galra headed our way, so I suggest whoever is supposed to be flying the magic lion gets a move on.”

“Keith! Where have you been?! We’ve been looking for you.”

“I got kidnapped. You followed for two weeks? I’m impressed. Uh, how do we get in the glowy energy barrier?”

“Maybe we just knock.” Lance knocked on the barrier, and the barrier dissolved, much to everybody’s (except, Lance noticed, Allura’s) surprise. “My ladies and gentlemen, we have a way out. All aboard!”

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arus isn't quite so peaceful. But on the upside, Coran is here!

Iverson looked up at the Galra prisoners his men had brought in.

“They surrendered, sir. They wanted to talk to you.”

“I see. Now, what would absolute scum like you want?”

“What do you want on the Galra? We want revenge. On a certain Resistance member.”

“And why on earth would I help you do that?”

“Come now. We know you’re not particularly fond of him. Tell me. How much do you _really_ know about the parentage of Keith Kogane?”

Iverson leaned forward, an interested gleam in his eye. “Tell me more.”

 

 

 

“It’s beautiful out here.”

Keith glanced out the window at the cosmos beyond. “Oh. Really? I never really- I don’t notice it anymore.”

Pidge gave him a confused glance, and he hurried to fill the silence with words.

“I mean, I lived in space for ten years, you know, on the command center and there were a kind of unhealthy number of windows, and if you stopped to look you tended to get shoved around, so I stopped noticing. Yeah. Um. Okay.” Keith tried to shrink back into the wall. He’d talked too much, he knew it. He might not know much about talking to people, but he was reasonably sure that being a slave wasn’t really a normal conversation topic.

Pidge smiled at him. “It’s alright. I don’t bite.”

“Really,” came Lance’s call from the head of the lion, “Because I’m pretty sure-”

“Shut up and drive, Lance!”

“Okeydokey. Got it. No talking. I will be silent.”

“Now _that_ I’d pay to see.”

“You are making it _seriously_ hard not to talk back right now!”

“Lance! Focus!”

“Yes, your majesty,” Lance grumbled, but Allura didn’t seem to sense the sarcasm.

Pidge grinned and turned back to Keith. “So… what now?”

“I… I don’t know. I mean, I assume Allura has a plan to find the other lions and-”

“Wait a minute. _Other_ lions? As in, more than the blue one that we are currently flying in?”

“Yeah. There’s the… other… lions, and… Allura never told you?”

“Allura never told us anything except that she’d sent you to get us and that you’d never come back. She didn’t even tell us about the blue lion; we discovered that on accident.”

Keith looked at one of his oldest allies. He’d known her for longer than he’d known anyone else except Shiro. If he couldn’t trust her, who could he trust?

 

 

“Allura? Where are we going? I mean, I’m flying where you tell me to, but what’s our ultimate destination here?”

“A safe place.”

“Why can’t we just go back to Earth?”

Allura shook her head. “I don’t trust Iverson. He was content to call the lion a fairy tale, but if he actually finds out that it exists… well, I’m not entirely sure he’d use this power for good.”

“Wait, but he can’t do anything with the lion unless I do it. And I know I’m on the side of good. Well, mostly sure.”

Allura smiled and put a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “I know that you are firmly on the side of what is right, Lance. But I also can tell that if you’re forced to make a choice between two bad options that you’ll follow your heart instead of your head. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s not a good thing either. I want to protect you, _all_ of you from having to make that choice for as long as I can.”

“Oh. Alright. How long will it take to get there?”

Allura’s eyes clouded over as she looked into the distance. “I’m not sure. With the technology I used to have, I could’ve gotten us there in seconds. But I don’t know how long this is going to take in just the lion.

As if talking about her old technology had summoned it, a swirling hole opened up in front of them. Allura’s eyes lit up.

“Lance, fly through there! It may be our way to skip the endless drive!”

“May be?”

“Well, either that or it’s a trap. But that’s a risk I’m willing to take if this is what I think it is.”

“Alright, then into the scary swirling vortex it is!” He sounded a lot braver than he felt.

Lance gulped and flew right into the center of the hole, closing his eyes and preparing for the worst even as he hoped for the best.

 

 

When they emerged on the other side, Lance could see a blue and green planet that reminded him of earth. Allura crowed in delight.

“We’re here! He must have used leftover energy to transport us!”

“Don’t celebrate just yet. We still have one major problem.” Lance pointed to a Galra battleship surrounded by smaller, robot-flown fighters. “It looks like we have company.”

He eyed each of the buttons and levers and then decided to just let his instinct take over. No. Not his instinct. His lion. His lion was what had guided him to her and his lion would guide him through this battle. He took in one deep breath and then just went with the flow. He flipped switches and pulled levers like he’d been doing it all of his life. He could feel the energy of his lion, the experience she held flowing through him like a river, and before he knew it, the entire battleship had been destroyed, as well as the fleet of fighters.

“Wow, Lance, how did you do that?”

Lance stared at his controls. “I… I didn’t. She did.”

 

 

When they landed the lion, a terrible scene of carnage met their eyes. The bodies of small aliens littered the ground, some holding weapons. There were also Galra robots, still sparking and even a few flesh and blood Galra spread out on the ground. Allura clasped a hand to her mouth.

“No… the poor Arusians…”

Lance, Pidge and Hunk all ran for a bush, emptying their breakfasts into it. Keith was suddenly very glad he hadn’t eaten anything for two weeks as his stomach heaved. He’d seen gladiator fights, but this much carnage, on this scale… he closed his eyes.

Shiro surveyed the ground, horror in his eyes but also calculation. “What happened here?”

“There must have been a battle. I had no idea the Arusians were still fighting.”

“I wonder who won.”

Hunk shuddered. “Who won? Nobody could possibly look at this and say ‘we won.’ It’s not possible. They couldn’t.”

Allura gazed up a hill, frowning. “Is that… no, it can’t be…”

“What?”

“I could’ve sworn I saw… it couldn’t’ve been. We can’t be here. Lance, get the lion ready. This is the right planet, but we need to go up there.” Allura pointed up a sheer cliff. “I just hope… Never mind.”

 

 

“Um, Allura? There’s a glowing energy barrier.”

“Land the lion in front of it.”

Lance obliged and they all piled out. Allura examined the barrier.

“It’s on its last legs. It’ll collapse fairly soon.”

“Okay then.” Keith poked the barrier with one finger. It disintegrated.

“Keith!”

Keith shrugged. “What? Easy way to get inside that doesn’t risk blowing up… that.” He pointed to the massive structure inside, covered with burn marks and other signs of laser fire; it looked like it had been taken apart and then put back together by _way_ too few construction workers. “What is that thing?”

“That,” Allura said softly, “is my home.”

The doors hissed open at her touch, and they cautiously walked in. The lights flipped on, revealing a hoard of the Arusians, all holding weapons of some kind, led by a tall, pointy-eared man with orange hair who was aiming a gun at them. He dropped it.

“Princess?”

Allura’s eyes filled with tears. “Coran!”

The Arusians dropped their weapons and bowed, murmuring something about a “lion goddess” as Allura rushed Coran and wrapped her arms around him

“Coran! I didn’t think I’d ever see you again!”

“I feared the same, princess. When I heard that the Galra had taken you…”

“Never mind that. What happened here?”

“Well, after the Galra came through and destroyed everything and you left to help Pollux, I began to fix the Castle. The Galra came back, though, and the Arusians fled here for safety. Yesterday their warriors decided to go out and fight the Galra.” Coran bowed his head. “There was nothing I could do.”

Allura nodded solemnly. “We saw the aftermath. And… sorry about the particle barrier.”

Coran sighed. “Better to fix it now than when the Galra are attacking. The computer gave me an alert that the blue lion was awake, and I used the remnants of your energy to bring it here.”

Allura nodded again. “Yes. We found the blue lion on a planet named Earth. This is our new blue paladin, Lance. Coran, I believe it’s time to take back the lions.”

“Princess, are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Pidge chimed in, “how about you tell us what exactly these lions are? And maybe, you know, explain why we’re here?”

“Of course. You’ve seen the blue lion. My father built five of these lions. Individually they were strong. But together, they form the greatest weapon of all time; Voltron. You five have proved to be fairly competent soldiers, and, of course, the blue lion has chosen Lance as its paladin; I would greatly appreciate it if you would help us rescue the lions from the clutches of the Empire so that we can find the other paladins.”

“Princess, are you sure? There’s only five of them, and they’re very young.”

“I’m sure. Keith and Lance single-handedly managed to rescue all of the prisoners on the Galra command center and free Earth from the grip of the Empire. Hunk and Pidge were able to create a device that completely removes slaves from the Empire’s radar and Shiro is a great leader and an excellent tracker.”

Shiro turned pink. “Well. I’m not exactly in charge back on-”

“Nonsense. The other resistance members obey Iverson, but it is _you_ they look up to. Under your leadership, I believe we may actually have a chance at taking the lions back. So? What do you say?”

Each of the Earthlings looked at each other and then back to Allura. Shiro was the first to speak.

“We’re in. Let’s go free some lions.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'll get to that subplot with Iverson eventually. Eventually.


	8. Chapter 8

“Galra, uh, new high command, I have captured the blue lion and her pilot; please do not shoot us out of the sky. Over and out.”

Allura set down the com with a sigh. She’d told the Eathlings that she could shapeshift, and there had been plenty of dead Galra around to pull a uniform from. The idea was that once they got the blue lion on board, the others would sneak out and find the other lions. Idea being the main word. Pidge had said she could shut down security systems as they went, but Allura wasn’t entirely sure this was going to work. Even with Lance running a distraction, she wasn’t sure they’d all get out of this.

 

 

“Welcome, Galra hero. Today is the day we capture the last piece of Voltron. What is your name?”

Allura sweated nervously as she struggled to keep the gun aimed at Lance’s head. “I am Thace. I was on planet Arus, and I bring this tribute because I deserted in battle.”

“Take off his helmet.”

Allura flipped Lance’s helmet off.

Lotor smiled. “Oh, I know you.”

Lance smirked. “From where? In your nightmares?” He stuck out his tongue. “Vrepit Sa, loser.”

Lance knocked the gun out of Allura’s hand, and made a run for it, dashing in the opposite direction as the hangars where the lions awaited.

Shiro nodded to the others, and they dashed into the cover of shadow.

Allura stepped back in the chaos, and the particle barrier activating, locking her safely inside with Pidge’s laptop. She pressed start on the page Pidge had pulled up, and they moved out.

\---------------

Pidge had set up everything perfectly. Since she needed to find the green lion, she had created a schedule that had to be followed _to the letter_. Each security camera, drone and sentry turned off, only for a few seconds for them to run through until it turned on, and the next section turned off. She’d timed everything exactly right, timing each team member to program their route based on how fast they could run. She’d also set up a spot for Lance to get to where everything would turn off so that he could crawl into an air duct and make his way back to the lion.

\--------------

They’d gone over the plan. Run like there’s no tomorrow. Pidge timed it. They’d practiced. But actually carrying out the plan was a different story. Shiro hadn’t planned for sudden headaches or flashbacks while he was running.

_He’d done this before. Running, running for his life._

He put on a boost of speed to make it to the next zone before everything turned back on.

_Tap, tap, tap, go the sentry’s feet._

He couldn’t afford to do this.

\--------------

Hunk tore through the hallways, panting. He hated running. He came to the door where the yellow lion was hidden and opened it, closing it behind him just as his zone flickered back on. The lion was staring at him. Suddenly, its particle barrier shut off, and it crouched down, opening its mouth. Hunk felt like this was just… right. Like in that lion was where he should be. He climbed into the cockpit.

\---------------

“Allura! The yellow lion let me in!”

Allura’s head snapped up as Hunk’s voice sounded in her ear. She’d let them borrow the paladin armor, and she’d had a sneaking suspicion when Hunk’s had expanded to fit him. That armor was designed to always fit the proper paladins, and if Hunk’s small suit of armor made room for his large body…

“Hunk, this is wonderful! This means that _you_ are the yellow paladin! I wonder…”

Pidge’s armor had seemed to shrink to fit her. Could she be… That would only leave Keith and Shiro, and their bodies had been close enough to the size of the armor…

\--------------

Pidge slammed into the last room, closing the doors. Too close. She’d slowed down, only for a moment, but she’d almost been caught. Her own stupid perfect timing. She panted and took a breather.

She looked to the lion. The green lion was beautiful, an artwork of machinery. The blue lion had been amazing in its own way, of course, but this was different. The green lion was more streamlined, built for getting into smaller places. She, for Pidge instinctively knew the lion was a she, was built smaller; it would take a clever person who could calculate quickly to efficiently fly this lion.

As if saying _yeah, you’re the right person for the quick calculations,_ the green lion’s particle barrier shut down and she bent to Pidge’s level.

\---------------

“Allura! Allura, everybody, the green lion let me in! I think she wants me to fly her!”

Allura smiled. She’d been right. “That’s excellent, Pidge! The yellow lion also let Hunk in! It seems like you and your friends are meant to be paladins!”

\--------------

 _You and your friends are meant to be paladins._ Those words made Shiro’s heart skip a beat. Could he… No, there was no way. He might be a good soldier, he might hide his insecurities, his nightmares, his terror, but the lion would see through him. The lion would see that he wasn’t right.

But when he ran into the room, the lion’s barrier was already down, and it had its mouth open as if it had been anticipating his arrival. Like it had waited, waited through Zarkon and Lotor, just for him.

\---------------

Keith didn’t have time to smile, but he wanted to. Shiro had bonded with the black lion. They were all paladins.

_You and your friends are meant to be paladins._

Allura’s words echoed in his head. Way to put pressure on a guy. The original plan had been to free the lions from any Galra restrictions and then open the airlocks from outside the room. In theory, they would’ve made their way back to the blue lion where Lance would hopefully have escaped back to and Lance could fight off the Galra while Coran flew the Castle in to get the lions. Now it appeared that the lions would fly out on their own.

He opened the last door and slid inside. The red lion stared judgmentally at him, and he put one hand on the particle barrier.

“Please.”

Nothing happened. No magic sparkles, no sudden understanding of the universe, no particle barrier shutdown. Keith let out a sigh. It had been too good to hope for. Of _course_ the red lion wouldn’t let him in. It’d been stuck with the Galra for centuries, maybe even millenniums according to Allura, and now a half-Galra came waltzing in and expecting to be a paladin. He wouldn’t’ve let him in either.

He began undoing the tractor beams holding the lion in place. When he finished, he ran for the door. Time to eject this into space. At least this would go faster with only one lion to rescue.

Outside the door were thousands of sentries. Keith slammed the door shut again, barely avoiding a laser. The robots began pounding on the doors, and Keith knew they would get in soon. He couldn’t fight them all. He glanced at the airlock release inside the room, and a plan started to form in his head. He put on his face mask and waited.

The sentries burst the door open, and Keith pressed the airlock button, holding on tightly to the control panel as the sentries were sucked into space as well as the red lion. It was working! As the last of the sentries flew out into space, Keith reached for the button, trying to hold on with one hand.

A piece of debris smacked his hand away from the button, and then another one hit his remaining tether to the ship and he let go.

And flew into outer space.

His eyes flicked around wildly. Not good, not good, not good. He’d seen the remains of slaves who were ejected into outer space, and it wasn’t pretty. He was going to end up like them, his teammates would find him floating out in space, just a corpse in paladin armor.

How ironic. He’d spent ten years of his life trying desperately to avoid this fate, and the instant he was actually free from the grip of slavery he immediately fulfilled it.

No. He couldn’t think of it that way. He had to get out of this, he had to-

A shadow passed over him. He was going to get run over, or- no, it was the red lion. Its jaws clamped over him, and he found himself in the cockpit, safe. He smiled and turned on his com.

“This is Keith. I’m flying the red lion. Let’s get out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just going to give Keith some insecurities, don't mind me.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I felt the urge to write angst. Sorry, Keith and Pidge.

Keith and Pidge flew through space, patrolling the outer reaches of a solar system they’d freed. Ever since they’d become paladins, defeating the Galra had been a piece of cake.

“Green and red lions, how’re you doing?”

“Nothing to report, we’ve had no Galra issues. I think this system will be safe for a- oh, what’s that?”

“Distress signal,” Pidge answered, “You want to check it out?”

Keith thought for a moment. “It could be Galra related. Even if it’s not, we should probably help anyway.”

“Alright, Allura, we’re going down to check this out. We’ll keep you updated.”

The two paladins steered their lions towards the surface of the planet. It didn’t look special, but as they swooped over the surface of the planet they could see a trench dug into the ground. At the end was a spaceship.

“That’s where the signal is coming from.”

“Alright. Take it down.”

When they landed, there was no one inside.

“Huh. Trap?”

“Maybe. But…” Pidge pointed to a set of footprints that led to a cave. “They could’ve gone in there.”

“But why?”

Pidge rolled her eyes and pointed at a set of much larger set of footprints and a long scratch in the side of the ship. “To get away from that. This ship isn’t badly damaged, so they probably just didn’t want to stick around for it to get them. We should find them.”

“Shouldn’t we take care of the monster first?”

“We don’t know when the monster will show up. We do, however, probably know where we can find the stranded pilots.”

“Alright. Into the dark cave it is.”

 

 

“Oof.”

“Pidge? You okay?”

“Keith, I can’t move!”

Keith frowned and turned on his lights. Sure enough, Pidge was frozen in place, midstep.

“What the… How is that even happening? I don’t see any machinery.”

He walked towards her, and she yelped.

“Don’t get too close! _You_ can’t get trapped too!”

Keith connected his visor to the castle. “Allura, Coran, have you ever seen anything like this?”

“No, I can’t say that I have. I don’t see any glowing, and do you hear any humming noise?”

“No. There’s nothing. Unless…” Keith let out a curse. “Haggar! I bet you anything that crash was faked! And then she lured us down here by faking the monster. This pretty much reeks of her work.”

“That settles it, then.” Pidge’s face was white, but determined. “You have to get out of here.”

“No way.”

“You can hear them, can’t you? The footsteps? You have the sharpest hearing of all of us, I know you can. She’s coming, and you need to get out of here.”

“I’m not leaving you behind.”

“You don’t have a choice! She can’t get both of us!”

“Pidge, we _need_ you! Even if my heart wasn’t telling me to, I would stay because you’re the only one of us who can hack the Galra! I _have_ to keep you safe!”

“Get out of here! They’re almost here!”

Keith activated his sword, stepping in front of Pidge protectively. “No. Whatever happens, I’m sticking with you. Right here.”

When the first Galra sentry appeared, Keith immediately cut it down. But the witch had brought practically a whole army with her, and even he couldn’t keep up. They slowly subdued him, and then the witch herself appeared.

“Hm. You lasted much longer than I thought you would. I honestly thought you’d cut and run, make sure we only caught one of you, but the only person who can hack the Galra? That _is_ a good reason to stay. I don’t know _what_ you thought you could do when I showed up, but this probaby wasn’t it.” She nodded to the sentries. “Kill the green paladin.”

“NO!”

Keith wrenched himself away from the sentry holding him and tackled the senty aiming its gun at Pidge. Haggar watched with detached interest as the two tussling on the ground for control.

The sentry backhanded Keith across the face, knocking him off and cutting a small line where a screw had gotten caught on his skin. He took aim again and then looked down at Keith, who was desperately pulling on his leg. The sentry coldly kicked him in the face, and Pidge winced as she heard his nose break.

“Alright. Stop. Stand down.” Haggar looked down at Keith, who was dazedly touching his nose. “Human sentimentality. So pointless. But I suppose that the green lion might destroy the cavern if we kill her paladin.” She squeezed her hand and Pidge collapsed to the ground.

Keith crawled over to check on her, but he was yanked away and handcuffed. Someone else picked up Pidge’s unconscious body. They deposited them in the back of their pod. Keith crawled over to Pidge, which was difficult when handcuffed, and felt for her pulse, letting out a sigh of relief when he felt a faint heartbeat. She was going to make it. They were both going to get out of this.

\---------------

Pidge sighed from her awkward position on the cell floor. “What was the point of this?”

Keith looked at Pidge questioningly.

“I mean, what was the point of chaining you to the wall? And if there _is_ a point, why would they chain me to the floor instead of the wall? This just doesn’t make sense!”

“They’re the Galra. They don’t need a point; if it’s uncomfortable, they’re going to do it just to be sadistic.”

“How nice of them.”

“Mm. At least I can move my arms.”

“Way to rub it in my face.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“I’m just kidding.”

“Oh.”

“How’s your face?”

“Broken.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“What, save you? Of course I did.”

Pidge sighed. “Has it _ever_ occurred to you to _ever_ not be a tragically perfect hero?”

Keith let out a short bark of laughter. “If it ever did, I ignored it.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Thank you. That’s very high praise. And I’m not perfect.”

Pidge snorted. “Please. You’ve got mad fighting skills, you’re a good pilot, you might not understand technology as well, but you can rig an entire ship into a bomb if someone tells you how. You always want to help and save people, and you have the perfect face for staring off into the distance dramatically. The only person who out-perfect-hero’s you is Shiro.”

“I’m angry, and impulsive, and I push people away. I… I’m scared most of the time.”

“Wow. You must have gotten a _really_ bad knock in the face to be admitting that.”

“Maybe just a little.”

There was a short silence.

“Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to be okay? Because I know that the Galra… I know what happened with Lotor and… this can’t bring good memories.”

Keith didn’t answer.

“Keith?”

“I, uh, well. Um…”

“Very articulate. Your golden tongue astounds me.”

Keith let out a slightly hysterical laugh. “I… I’m actually kind of terrified right now. I feel trapped, and I feel like any minute Lotor’s going to get a message that puts him in a bad mood, and he’s just going to start throwing me around, or he’s going to grab a whip, or a knife and I’m going to have to do that all over again. And honestly, I think I’m going to have some kind of panic attack, and then everyone will know how weak I really am and how insecure, and I don’t even know why I’m still talking.”

“Keith. Just… calm down. It’ll be okay.”

“But what if it’s not?!”

“Keith. I saw… when we were in the pool, I saw all the marks.”

“Join the party. I don’t need pity. It happened. It’ll probably happen again. It’s probably happening to people everywhere.”

“But… there was that one. The long one that went all the way down.”

Keith shuddered. “I don’t want… that’s a bad one.”

“I’m not Shiro, I’m not Hunk, but… I’m here.”

Keith sat pensively for a moment, and Pidge worried that she’d over-stepped. Then Keith heaved a sigh.

“I was ten, I think. Earth time is hard to tell in space. It was the first time… it was the first time Lotor really hurt me. There had been the occasional kick, or the punch when he was angry, but the bruises faded. He’d lost a swordfight and was throwing a tantrum. I was in the room and… and he shouted that I wasn’t supposed to be alive, that I was a freak and that humans were weak and should be exterminated. I was too scared to say anything, and he laughed. He said that I proved the point. Then I told him that I wasn’t weak, and I hoped he fell out of an airlock.”

“No…”

“I knew I’d overstepped, and I ran for the door. He threw his sword at me and it sliced in and… he started kicking me while I was down. An officer was walking by, and he handed Lotor a whip and told him that he needed to punish me properly. I almost died.”

“What?!”

“He… he really took what that officer said seriously and he used that whip until he was satisfied that not a single inch of my back had been spared. And then he told me to clean up the blood.”

“How were you even alive, much less conscious?!”

“I’m a little more resilient than most humans.”

“But still…”

“If you pass out, if you can’t move, they throw you out of an airlock. Maybe not with the gladiators, but with the working class? Definitely. I wanted to live. So, I cleaned up the blood, but I just kept bleeding and getting more on the floor and he was laughing and telling me that if I couldn’t even clean my own messes then I was worthless.”

Pidge just stared at him in shock. “I can’t… I can’t believe… How did you stop?”

“He got bored and left. Another slave, one who’d been too scared of Lotor to help, sent me back to the slave quarters and called a healer. He cleaned up the mess.”

“Did you ever get his name?”

Keith looked her right in the eyes, his purple ones sad. “No. Lotor found out and had him thrown out of an airlock. I never found out who he was. That’s why I tried to fight Lotor when Lance and Hunk showed up. That cruelty can’t continue, and I thought I could maybe make a difference.” He looked at the ground bitterly. “Apparently this is my fate, to be stuck here, stuck with them. Nothing I do seems to make a difference; my Galra side won’t go away. It’s always going to be around. I can’t stop it.”

“No, Keith-”

“It always happens. It’s always _going_ to happen.”

“Keith, you choose who you want to be. It doesn’t matter who your mother is.”

“Tell that to the rest of the world.”

“You’re no more a Galra on inside than what you have on the outside. Not purple, are you?”

“No, but maybe all of the badness is on the inside. Maybe my inside makes up for my lack of Galra on the outside.”

“Keith. Stop being an idiot.”

Keith looked at her, and she could see the tears brimming in his eyes, tears that he wasn’t letting fall.

“You’re not a terrible person. You’re full of goodness and tragic hero-ness. Would a Galra have saved me from Haggar?”

“N-no.”

“Would a Galra have sacrificed himself for the Resistance?”

“No.”

“There. Stop moping. We’re going to be fine. You’ll see, I’m sure the others are already on their way.”

Pidge internally sighed. She knew she wasn’t great at comfort, but she had tried. That sentry really must have hit Keith hard for him to admit all that. She just hoped she was right. She just wished she could convince herself that they’d be okay.

 _Please,_ she silently begged her teammates, _please hurry._

\----------------

“Well, hello paladins.”

“Lotor. Can’t believe you actually dared show your face. I thought you were too much of a coward to face us, even chained up.”

Lotor turned a deeper purple. “Green paladin, you are in a dangerous position. Don’t make it worse on yourself.”

He approached Keith, eyes glittering coldly. Pidge could see the red paladin trying to keep glaring, forcing himself to make eye contact. She inwardly winced. She _had_ to distract Lotor.

“Oi! Lotor! I heard your dad went moony for some Altean! I can’t believe he let you live! I mean, that must have been embarrassing for him, what with exterminating the Altean race and all. You’ve got to be just a constant reminder of everything he did wrong.”

Lotor faced Pidge, growling. “I am his _son_. My mother Honerva was an _incredibly_ important scientist.” His lip curled. “Besides, I’d rather be a half-breed Galra that a full-blooded _human_.”

Ouch. So Lotor was actually pretty smart, or at least he had good comebacks.

“So, what are you doing here? Here to gloat? Here to tell us you’re going to throw yourself out of an airlock? Have to say, I’m hoping for option two.”

“You humans. You think you’re _so_ great. You’re _nothing_. You’re a bunch of primitive apes that are _much_ too cocky and arrogant for your own good.”

“Tell me, how embarrassing is it to have been defeated by, not an army, but only _two_ ‘primitive apes’?”

Lotor’s eyes glittered coldly as he looked down at her. “You have a clever little mind, paladin, clever little fingers to hack the Galra. You think that will protect you here? The red paladin may have stayed to protect you, but can he help you now? I broke him a long time ago. Oh, he hides it, he keeps up bravado, he acts brave, but inside he fears us. Inside, he knows that he cannot fight us. What is _he_ going to do to protect you?” He looked down at Pidge’s hands. “Clever fingers. What if you couldn’t use them?”

He raised one heavy, booted foot. “Do you know what happens to clever little things here?” he smirked slightly. “Clever little things tend to break.”

He stomped down, hard, onto the fingers of Pidge’s left hand, grinding his heel in, splintering her slender fingers under his boot.

Pidge screamed. She screamed, and screamed, and screamed. Her fingers- they felt- they agony- she wanted to stop it, kill it, get rid of the pain, destroy the agony, kill it, kill this burning sensation, _why did it hurt so much_?!

Keith yanked hard against his chains, roaring in wordless fury. He’d just- he’d- Keith was going to kill him, wring his smug Galra neck, kill him for hurting Pidge, not Pidge, anybody _but_ Pidge, he would’ve rather felt those boots himself than let that happen to Pidge. He would rip Lotor apart with his bare hands for _daring_ to break one of Pidge’s pride and joy, her fingers, how could she type, how could she build, he was going to _murder_ that smug Galra bastard and then _feed him to an angry bear._ There was warm blood running down his arms as the manacles dug into his flesh, he was pulling so hard, but he didn’t notice, he didn’t care, because _Pidge was lying on the floor crying and in pain, and Lotor was laughing and he was going to KILL him._

Lotor smirked. “Not so clever now, are you, paladin?” He turned to Keith, who was panting as he continued to pull against his restraints. “Well. Quite the determined demon, aren’t you, 41?”

That was all it took, all he needed. That number, that voice, he had to keep it down, had to live, couldn’t talk back, couldn’t look wrong at his Galra master- no, he was a paladin now, he was his own person, Lotor had no hold over him- a decade of abuse, a decade of the whip, the kicks, the taunting, the threats, he had to keep away, had to be polite, detached. Had to avoid the punishment.

“Look at you. Reduced to animal instinct at a few words. How _pathetic_.”

Keith strained against the restraints and stared Lotor coldly in the face. “Get out.”

“ _Excuse_ me?”

“Get out. Get out right now before I rip these chains off of the wall and tear you to pieces, you purple bastard.”

Lotor stepped back, shock and anger written on his face. “What?! You _dare_ …”

Keith bared his teeth in a feral smile. “Yes. I _dare_.”

Lotor shook his head and headed for the cell door. “You’ve changed. You’ve gotten more foolish. I broke you once, I can do it again. Your actions here will not save the green paladin; you have simply doomed yourself with her.”

“You know, I’ve changed, but you haven’t changed a bit, Lotor. You’re still as insecure and approval-seeking as ever. When are you going to realize that pushing people around isn’t going to get dad’s attention?”

Lotor looked back, the door open and one of his feet already out. “I realized that a _long_ time ago, 41. But at that point, it was too late.” The door shut behind him.

\-------------------

“Pidge?”

A low moan answered Keith’s query.

“Pidge, hold on. You’ll be okay.”

“Keith. He broke my fingers, Keith! He broke my fingers!”

“I know, I know. Shhhh. Don’t think about it. Don’t panic.”

“Keith, how am I going to type? I can’t- I’m useless, I won’t be able to do anything!”

Keith could hear Pidge sobbing, sobbing and hyperventilating.

“Pidge, no, you’re not-”

“Get out of here. Keith, you said you could rip your chains off, do it, get out, just get out of here.”

“I can rip mine off _maybe_. I can’t rip off yours too.”

“Then _leave me._ ”

“What?! No, I’m not going to-”

“Keith. Earlier you told me that- you told me that even if your heart hadn’t told you to stay, your brain did because only I could hack the Galra. What’s your brain saying now? Tell me what the cold, calculating part of you is saying.”

“Pidge, I-”

“Don’t be ashamed of it, Keith. We all have that voice of logic and reason. What’s yours telling you?”

“I- to leave you behind,” he replied dully, “to bust out of here and get away because your fingers might be crushed, and if they are then there’s a possibility we can’t fix then and that means that you can’t hack the Galra, and you might be unable to fly the green lion as well. That we _might_ be able to fix them, but you’ll be a liability in an escape, so it’s better not to risk the escape on a maybe.”

Pidge nodded. “Listen to that part of you, Keith. Listen to that part of you and hold on to it. Get out of here.”

“No.”

“Keith-”

“I’ve never listened to that part of me, and I’m not going to start now.”

“Keith, you have to. You have to survive; the team _needs_ you.”

“The team needs _you_ , Pidge. We all do. It doesn’t matter if you can hack the Galra or not, it doesn’t matter whether or not you can fly the green lion, we _need_ you.”

“Keith, no, listen to me, you _have_ to get out of here!”

The door opened, and Haggar glided in. It was too late. There was no escape now.

\------------------

“You know, I always wanted to experiment on a half-human half-Galra before. When I broke the first human- oh, I don’t remember its name, it wasn’t important, it was quite resilient.”

“ _His_ name,” Keith said through gritted teeth, “is Shiro. And you better remember it, because when he finds us, he’s going to kill you.”

“Even if he does, it will be too late for you. The green paladin stands a chance, but you certainly don’t.”

Keith resisted the urge to ask, refused to give her the satisfaction of speaking and acknowledging what she said.

“You see, 41, I have recently found a new power, a way to control any Galra I choose. Of course, no _good_ Galra soldier would ever need such a thing. But the question is, will it work on a half-breed?”

The color drained out of Keith’s face. Haggar must have seen it, because a cruel smile played around her lips.

Pidge growled ferrally at the druid. “Don’t. You. Dare.”

“Green paladin, I _hardly_ think you’re in a position to be making demands, hm? After all, I captured you both, I believe I’m entitled to play with you.”

She snapped her fingers at a couple of sentries, and they unlocked Keith from the wall, firmly holding his hands behind his back. Keith slammed the back of his head into the sentry’s face, a move that would break most people’s noses. It just hurt Keith’s head and the sentry tightened its grip.

“Humans. So rebellious. I don’t know why we didn’t just exterminate you all. I suppose Emperor Zarkon, may he quickly heal, had his reasons.”

“Pidge!”

Keith looked scared, more scared than he ever had. Pidge understood. They had threatened to take away the one thing that Keith had, Haggar was planning to take his free will. Even when he had been a slave he’d chosen differently from their wishes and suffered the punishment, but now if she could control him, she could take away even that.

“Keith, hold on! It’ll be alright, just don’t panic!”

She could hear him still calling her name as they dragged him down the hall, away to Haggar’s lab. She determinedly examined her manacles. She _had_ to get out of here. She was their last chance.

\------------------

The cell door opened, and Pidge frantically hid the wire from her glasses that she’d been trying to pick the lock on her manacles with and pretended her arm was still locked up. A soldier threw Keith in and then left, not bothering to chain him to the wall.

“Keith!”

He jumped at the sound of her voice and scooted away. Pidge sighed. He’d been on his own too long, he’d learned not to trust anybody when he was hurting and she absolutely _hated_ the Galra for doing that to him.

“Keith, it’s okay, it’s me, Pidge.”

“Pidge… Pidge! Are you okay?! I thought- I thought they might have taken you while I was gone.”

“I’m alright, they just left me here. Are you…”

She reached for his hand, but when she touched his wrist, he hissed and yanked it away. She looked up, and her brown eyes locked onto his purple ones. She gently took his hand and pulled the sleeve of his prison uniform up.

Pidge sucked in a deep breath. Covering Keith’s arm was a motley of burns and cuts. They were like tally marks, scored into his skin.

“Keith…”

His eyes filled with tears, tears he kept from falling. “They handed me the poker. They gave it to me and…” he gulped, a few tears making it past his barricade. “I did it. Pidge, they told me to, and I did. I… it was like my muscles were moving on their own, and I didn’t have any control!”

“No…”

“Pidge, she can do it! She can control me, and I can’t stop her! I can’t-” he broke down, and Pidge wrapped an arm around him.

“Pidge, I can’t. I can’t go with you. You have to get out on your own.”

“No, we can fix this. You can do it. You can fight her.”

“No, no, I can’t! She’s too powerful, I can’t fight it!”

“Keith, you have to! You’re part of Voltron, part of our team! If not for your sake, you need to resist her for ours!”

“Pidge. Pidge, what is your logic voice saying?”

“No, I’m not listening to that, I’m not listening to it.”

“Pidge…”

“I’m not losing any family! I went through that once, I’m not going through it again!”

“F-family?”

“Yes, you idiot! And as your younger sister, I _order_ you to fight her!”

“Pidge…”

“No! Stop being a tragic hero! Please,” she whispered, “I can’t leave you behind.”

\------------------

“Haggar.”

Haggar set down her experiment to glare at Prince Lotor. “Yes, Lotor?”

“I understand you captured the paladins. I understand that you wish to play with them.”

“But?”

“But the Empire is questioning both my authority and yours.”

“And?”

“And perhaps if we showed them our power, if we showed them that we can even capture the paladins of Voltron and showed that they are at our mercy…”

“We could intimidate them enough that they never question us again.”

Lotor’s lips twitched into a twisted smile. “Good. Do you consent, then?”

“Yessss. The paladins will solidify our authority. No one will _dare_ question us again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because this is the reality where things go wrong 90% of the time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who wants some Hangst? Probably no one, but I did it anyway.

Shiro stood next to Hunk, looking over his shoulder at the coding scrolling across the screen. “Have you tracked them down?”

“I’m trying, Shiro, but I don’t have Pidge’s way with computers. I’m more of an inventing kind of guy. I don’t know the ship they were taken on, so I’m trying to track the paladin armor. It’s a little tricky to get ahold of. I’m mostly scanning for Altean energy, but they must have gotten _really_ far away from the planet we found the lions on, because my scanners aren’t picking anything up. What about the red lion?”

Shiro sighed. “Still trying to get out of the hangar. I don’t understand why.”

Hunk shrugged. “Maybe it’s glitching.”

Lance looked up from a corner. He was sitting on Pidge’s laptop, essentially searching the Galra version of the Internet for any possible clues.

“Maybe we should let the red lion out.”

“What?”

Lance shrugged. “Maybe it’s trying to get to Keith. It rescued him in outer space; maybe it knows he’s in danger and wants to get him. I mean, we have some mystic bond with the lions, right? Maybe the red lion can track him down.”

Shiro jumped up from his spot next to Hunk.

“Lance, that’s it! I can’t believe- It’s so simple, why didn’t we think of that?!”

Lance shrugged modestly and tapped his forehead. “Sometimes you need to not be a genius to figure things out.”

\--------------------

“Druid!”

“Lotor. Why are you here?”

“Because, _witch,_ the red lion is on our doorstep! You overstepped the red paladin’s pain limits, and his lion is responding! As well as the rest of Voltron!”

“No… I must find a way to block the red lion, then.”

Lotor let out an exasperated sigh. “It might have some Altean witchcraft going on, but it’s still a machine, yes? Just hit it with some lightning and make it malfunction.”

Haggar glared at him. “My magic isn’t a game, Lotor.”

“Last I checked, you were on this ship just as much as I am. Unless you feel like dying today, I suggest you take my advice and short the thing out.”

Haggar continued to glare at him, but bowed her head. “Of course.”

\------------------

Shiro squinted at the ship. Something odd was happening on board. “What is- oh, no. Allura, we have to get the red lion, it’s-”

A blast of purple energy arced from the ship, striking the red lion. It stuttered and stopped in its tracks, shuddering.

Allura’s eyes widened. “NO!” She flew the castle towards the lion as the ship jumped into hyperspace, leaving them behind. The red lion slid neatly into the hangar, but the ship was gone. They were back to square one. And now the red lion couldn’t help them.

\------------------

“Anything?”

Hunk sighed. “No. I had the signal of the armor’s energy right near that ship, but when it jumped to hyperspace it disappeared.”

“Uh, guys,” Lance interrupted, his eyes glued to the computer screen, “I think you might want to see this.

They all crowded around him, and his finger hovered uncertainly over the _play_ button on a video.

“If- this video is a little- um, I think I should just play it. You’ll see.”

He clicked play, and Lotor’s voice started up.

“All of my subjects, across the galaxy. I am aware that you are dubious of my reign. You fear that I may be unable to rule properly, especially now that Voltron has reappeared. But I assure you, you have nothing to worry about. Voltron cannot stop us. In fact, I have certainly stopped Voltron.”

An image of Keith and Pidge showed up, both of them glaring at the camera. Shiro, Hunk, Allura and Coran all hissed in at the sight of their teammates.

“As you can see, I have captured two of the paladins of Voltron. It is highly unlikely that you will see either the red or green lions. And that means no Voltron. As well as this, you must realize: Voltron’s paladins are not as much of a threat as you believe. Humans are mostly fit for our entertainment.”

The camera cut to Pidge, running through some kind of maze. She glanced behind her, and a roar sounded. She caught sight of the camera, and a stream of obscenities flowed from her mouth. Another roar sounded and she flipped off the camera before running on.

The image switched to Keith, who was fighting some kind of monster in an arena. It was about ten times his size, and even though he kept it at bay with his sword for a while, it got the advantage and swiped him across the arena. Everybody winced.

“As you can see, they pose no threat, nor do the other paladins. Trust in your ruler, my Galra citizens. Trust in me, and we will continue our time of power.”

The video ended, and the paladins sat in silence for a moment. Shiro’s metal hand clenched and unclenched. Hunk just stared at the screen for a moment frowning.

“Lance, when did that video show up?”

“About five minutes ago, why?”

“Let me see the laptop.”

Lance handed it to his friend, who immediately started typing away.

“What’re you-”

“I’m tracking the signal. We’re going to find them. We’re going to bring them home.”

“We better do it fast.” Shiro looked at the ground. “I don’t know if any of you noticed, but Pidge’s left hand…”

“Definitely broken,” Allura remarked. “And Keith…”

Shiro frowned. “Play it back, Hunk.”

Hunk obliged, still typing. Allura winced again as Keith got knocked around, but Shiro examined it closely.

“One more time.”

Allura couldn’t watch. Shiro couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“That’s not Keith’s fighting style.”

Lance nodded, brow creased. “I thought so, but I wasn’t sure.”

“Keith tends to slash with his sword. But in this video, he’s mostly stabbing.”

Lance nodded. “Also, he’s showier. Like this is just a performance, up until the point when he gets whacked. I mean, it looks more like what _I_ would look like if I got ahold of a sword.”

“But Keith wouldn’t _ever_ willingly contribute to a Galra show,” Allura remarked, brow furrowed, “So what’s happening?”

\-------------------

“Stupid animal, Pidge muttered as she wrapped a bandage made of her uniform sleeve around a cut on her arm, “Stupid Lotor, stupid show. How’re the ribs?”

“Probably broken,” Keith replied, “That was _awful_.”

“Control?”

“Yeah. I guess they wanted a better show. I was fighting all wrong. And then she just _stopped_ and the thing _smacked me across the arena_ before I could get control again. Sadistic witch. How was yours?”

“I refused to run through the maze, so they set a creature behind me. I had to run to get away. Flipped off the camera, though. That felt pretty great.”

“You think the Galra know what that means?”

“Probably not; I’m just hoping that if any of our friends see it, they can get a good laugh out of it.”

\------------------

“Got it! Allura, tracked down the signal from that video; here are the coordinates, let’s go!”

“Hunk, Shiro, Lance, we got a distress signal from a nearby Balmera.”

“What? Right now?”

“I’m sorry, Shiro, but we have to help _everybody_ who asks.”

Shiro sighed. “I understand, but Keith and Pidge…”

“We’re not giving up on them. Hunk. I want to send you to the Balmera. Get the people safe, get the Galra out and then fly for the coordinates you gave me. We’ll rendezvous there and discuss a plan. You up for it?”

Hunk let out a deep breath. “Alright. By the way, the scanner should start working when you get close to the ship. You can use it to track down their exact locations.”

“Good luck.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Allura.”

\--------------

Hunk landed on the Balmera, surprised at the lack of Galra. What was going on? Was it another trap?

Something slid out of a shadowy cave, and Hunk aimed his bayard at it, before realizing that it- she wasn’t a Galra. He lowered his weapon, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, hi. I’m a paladin of Voltron, I’m here to help. Uh, where are all the Galra?”

“The Galra?” She shook her head. “They have all left. Only we, the Balmerans, remain. My name is Shay.”

“I’m Hunk. It’s nice to meet you, Shay. So, if the Galra aren’t here, what’s the emergency?”

Shay looked around nervously before beckoning him towards the cave. “Come. You need to see my people.”

\----------------

“Voltron. We have heard stories, but… you are really a paladin?”

“Yes. I’m here to help you. What’s wrong?”

The leading Balmeran looked to the ground and took Shay’s hand. “I am Rax; Shay is my sister. Not long ago, the rest of our family was killed by the Galra in a massacre of our people. All of the Balmerans you see are all that remain.”

Hunk looked around at the Balmerans. There were about twenty of them.

“No… So, why am I here? What is the situation?”

“The Balmera… she’s dying. She’s going to collapse.”

“Oh. Alright. I think all of you can fit in my lion. We’ll leave, and we’ll find you a home. I know… I know it won’t be the same, but you’ll still have each other.”

Rax frowned. “But… we do not want to leave. We want to stay with the Balmera in her dying moments.”

“Then why…”

“We called you here so that you could carry on our story. So that you could tell others of what the Galra will do. We did not rebel, but perhaps others will when they hear our story.”

“No, Shay, you should tell your story yourself. All of you. Come with me, and you can help fight the Galra. You are the last of your people. Don’t… don’t you think you should carry on the legacy of the Balmerans? _You_ are the only ones who truly know. _You_ are the only ones who can tell your story. Not me. You. Please. Come with me.”

The Balmerans all looked around at each other and at Hunk. Some were crying. Others were children, bright eyed and young. All one people. A people who would die if Hunk’s speech failed.

            Shay looked at the ground and then back at Hunk, eyes shining. “Hunk is right. We need to carry on. I will _never_ let this happen to another planet again! Who else will come? Who else will fight with me?!”

One by one, each of the Balmerans stood up, one hand on their heart, murmuring _yes, yes, we will fight, we will live, we will come._

“Alright! Everyone, follow me! We’re going to get out of here!”

\--------------

They marched through the tunnels, Hunk in the lead. The ground shook beneath their feet, but they kept going, supporting each other.

And then a tunnel started to collapse. Hunk was through, but the Balmerans weren’t.

“No!”

He ran back, he ran and he pushed the crumbling tunnel up, braced it with his shoulders, the weight pressing down on him, but he didn’t collapse.

“Hurry,” he gasped, “Everybody through!”

The Balmerans quickly ran through, and Hunk let it go, shooting forward with a gasp and letting the tunnel collapse behind him. Shay was watching him with shining eyes, smiling.

“You saved us!”

“There’s no time for thank-you’s, let’s keep moving.”

They were almost out. Hunk could see his lion, could see daylight. Then there was a rumbling noise, and the tunnel above him collapsed.

Something, someone pushed him, and he was out of harm’s way, except for the fact that he tripped as he was shoved and a rock fell on his ankle. He felt it twist and yelped, dragging it out of the rubble. It was already swelling, but it didn’t look broken.

“Hey! Is everybody okay?”

Rax’s voice choked out. “Shay. Shay, no!”

“R-Rax. I’m sorry.”

“No! Shay!”

“H-Hunk. Get out of here. This tunnel is blocked, and we are trapped.”

“I’ll get you out, I’ll dig you out, it’s going to be okay! Just hold on!”

“No. Hunk. Please. There is no time. The Balmera is going to die. Please, you must leave. You must fight the Galra. Do not let this happen again.”

“Shay! No, please!”

“Leave…”

“SHAY!”

“My sister is right, yellow one. You must leave us.”

“No!”

“Please. Remember us. Remember Shay. Promise.”

“I promise,” Hunk whisper-sobbed, “I promise. I won’t forget.”

“Good. That is all we ask. Now go. Live.”

Hunk half-ran, half-stumbled to his lion, blinking away tears as he got into the cockpit. As he blasted off of the Balmera, he saw it collapsing, and he almost thought he could almost hear Shay and Rax, whispering softly.

_Do not forget._

_I won’t,_ he thought fiercely as he set course for the Castle, _I’ll never forget._


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when you thought things couldn't get worse....they do.

“Alright. Hunk, glad to see you’re here. How did the Balmera go?”

Hunk jumped and looked at the ground. He coulldn’t tell them. This was his burden. “The Balmera? Oh, yeah, it went fine. Piece of cake. Sprained my ankle, but I put it in a splint. It’ll be fine.”

Shiro frowned, like he could sense Hunk’s lie, but he didn’t press.

“Alright. We’ve located Keith and Pidge. Or their armor, anyway. Allura, we need you to run a distraction, and we’ll slip into a hangar. We’ll use the signal from the armor to find them. We’ll get back to the lions, and then Allura opens a wormhole and we get out.”

Lance nodded. “Sounds simple enough. Get in, grab them get out. Let’s go!”

\--------------

Keith and Pidge looked up as an explosion rocked the ship.

“They’re here,” Pidge said, eyes shining, “They’re going to rescue us!”

“Pidge. Pidge, I can’t go with you.”

“What? No, not this again. You _have_ to come!”

“But what if- what if Haggar uses me to kill all of you?”

“Keith, it’s going to be fine. If we get you far enough away, her influence won’t work.”

“Really?”

Pidge nodded, even though she had no idea. She _hoped_ that distance would affect the witch’s control, but she had no way to be sure.

“But- I mean, we’re going to have to fight her at some point? Aren’t we?”

“It’s okay. We’ll just blast her to space dust from Voltron. You’ll see.”

The door opened, and Pidge rammed the sentry who came through.

“Let’s go! We can meet the others on the way!”

“This is very unlike you,” Keith shouted as he followed her into the chaos, “I like it!”

\-----------------

They were running through the hallways when it happened. Keith felt a tingling sensation, and then he was just a passenger in his own body. He tried to call out, to warn Pidge, but Haggar had taken even the ability to speak from him.

A serpentine voice resounded in his head. _And where do you think_ you’re _going, 41?_

\-----------------

Pidge’s head whipped from side to side as she realized that Keith wasn’t on her tail as he had been. “Keith? Oh, no! No, no, no, no!” She’d lost him in the confusion! Where _was_ he?”

“Pidge? Pidge!”

Pidge was swept off of her feet by an enthusiastic Hunk.

“Hunk! Hi! What’s… wow, is it just you?”

“Nah, we had to split up. We weren’t sure if you would be with your armor- that’s how we figured out which ship you were on- so we split up. I found your armor, by the way.”

Pidge slipped the armor on, being careful of her hand. “Well, it feels great to be back.”

Hunk’s head swept from side to side. “Wait a minute. Where’s Keith?”

“We got separated, and I don’t know where he is.”

“Oh, boy. Alright, then. Shiro and Lance will probably find him, but I don’t want to risk it. We better track him down.”

“Wait. Uh, Hunk, before we look for him there’s something you need to know.”

\----------------

Shiro punched his way through another squadron.

“Behind you!”

Shiro spun around at Lance’s cry and his fist careened towards the Galra’s face.

But then he stopped. This Galra… his skin was pale, not purple at all. He gently removed the helmet from the stock-still Galra’s head. Black hair tumbled out, and purple eyes stared at Shiro.

“Keith! I can’t believe- are- wait… why are you…”

“Shiro. Shiro, help, _please_.”

“Keith, it’s going to be okay, we’re going to get you out of here.”

“No, Shiro, don’t get too close, I can’t-” He seemed to choke on his words. “Please, I don’t want to hurt you.”

Shiro put a hand on Keith’s shaking shoulder. “You’re going to be okay, buddy. We’re not going to let anything-”

He stopped. The cold barrel of a gun was pressed to his sternum.

“Keith?”

“I’m sorry, Shiro,” Keith whispered. He had tears running down his face. “I’m sorry.”

“Keith-”

Keith pulled the trigger.

“SHIRO!”

Lance stared in horror as his friend and leader collapsed to the ground, a gaping hole in his stomach. Keith closed his eyes and looked away, tears still leaking from the corners of his eyes.

“Keith, why?!”

“Lance, please, stay away, I don’t want to hurt you, _please_.”

His hand twitched, and the gun fired again. Lance barely managed to pull up his shield.

“Keith! What’re you _doing_!”

Lance fired a shot, trying to shoot the gun out of Keith’s hands. He missed, and hit his arm. Keith winced, but trained his gun on Lance. Lance shot again, this time hitting his friend in the hip.

“Keith, I’m sorry, come on, stop it!”

“I can’t, I’m sorry, but I can’t! I-” His words cut off abruptly and he aimed the gun at Lance one last time, one last shot to hit him

Lance took incredibly carful aim, he couldn’t miss, if he didn’t get that gun away from Keith, he was going to die. He took a deep breath, sighted, and pulled the trigger.

What happened was impossible. It _never_ should’ve happened. Keith’s hand twitched, with inhuman speed, the gun moving to the side. The guy might have been half-Galra, but even _his_ reflexes weren’t that quick. It was like… like he was on puppet strings, someone else who could control his actions moving him around.

Those thoughts raced through his mind at lightning speed, because when he missed, when the laser meant for Keith’s gun missed its target it drove straight home into Keith’s stomach.

“No! No, no, I’m sorry, Keith, I didn’t mean to- I’m sorry!”

Keith just looked down at his stomach, like the puppet strings had been cut and he was in charge again. He just blinked at the wound and then at Lance and then back at his stomach. He sank to the floor, leaning against a wall for support.

“Keith- I wasn’t trying to-”

Lance approached Keith, and the puppet strings returned, Keith’s hand jerking to the ready position on his gun. Lance stopped, holding his hands up and backing away.

“L-Lance. I’m- I’m sorry. I didn’t want- I didn’t want any of this.”

Lance stared at him in shock because Keith was _crying_. Keith, who’d always seemed like an impregnable force of emotionlessness, was actually _crying._

“Tell… will you tell Shiro, will you tell him-” he broke off coughing. “Tell him I’m sorry.”

“Tell him yourself.”

“I don’t… I can’t go back. I can’t go back with you, this proves it. Please. If you care at all, get Shiro out, tell everybody it was too late and the Galra killed me. Leave me here.”

“I’m not going to leave you injured and with the Galra!”

“You _have_ to! There’s no choice, I… I might hurt someone. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Keith, what’s going on?!”

“Haggar, she-”

The breath all shot out of him as if someone had punched him. He gasped, trying desperately to get his breath back.

“Oh… that’s… cheating…”

“What?”

“I can’t- I can’t tell anyone, Pidge can tell you. Please, Lance just get out, get Shiro out, get everybody out.”

“Whatever’s going on, we can fix it. Just hold on, everything will be fine.”

“No, please…” Voices sounded from the hallway, Hunk’s and Pidge’s voices. Keith closed his eyes. “No… too late…”

The puppet string was back, and Keith’s hand twitched on his gun. Lance bit his lip, but he aimed his gun at Keith nonetheless. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew that he couldn’t let Pidge and Hunk get hurt.

\-------------

"Hunk, I think I heard Keith and Lance! This way!”

Pidge opened the door, and her face fell from happy to despairing. Shiro was lying on the floor, obviously wounded, and Keith was against the wall, breathing heavily and starting to bleed; laser weapons seared wounds even as they gave them, but it wouldn’t hold forever, especially if Keith had moved at all.

But worst was the gun in Keith’s hand, the Galra uniform that he was dressed in. Lance was aiming his bayard at Keith, and Pidge could see tears in the blue paladin’s eyes.

“Pidge! Hunk! I don’t know what’s going on, Keith just shot Shiro, and I wasn’t _trying_ to shoot him, I promise, it was an accident!”

“P-Pidge. Please.”

Keith’s expression was lost and hopeless. His purple eyes were silently pleading with her. She nodded and shot her bayard, attaching to Keith’s gun and yanking it out of his hands. She threw the nasty thing as far away from her as she could.

Keith’s eyes dimmed a little. “Thank you,” he whispered, “Thank you.”

“No time to explain,” Pidge barked, “Hunk, you grab Shiro; you’re the only one strong enough to carry him. Lance, you help me with Keith.”

“But-”

“I _promise_ there’s a good reason, and I _promise_ Keith hasn’t gone homicidal. Right now, the best we can do is get as far away from Haggar as humanly possible.”

Keith had been watching them with dulled eyes, and he weakly shook his head as Lance and Pidge each slung one of his arms over their shoulders, Pidge’s size making it a bit uneven so his feet dragged on the ground as they walked.

“Pidge… no…”

“I told you I wasn’t leaving you behind, did you think I was joking?! Did you think I was _lying_?!”

“…No.”

“You’re going to be okay,” she told him, mostly trying to convince herself, “Everything’s going to be fine. We’ll figure this out.”

\--------------

“We’ve got company. Pidge, do you think you can get Keith to the lion? I’ll hold them off.”

“Alright.”

Lance gently extracted himself from under Keith and activated his bayard. “GO!”

Pidge scooted forward as fast as she could, her heart breaking when Keith let out a little moan, the movement obviously hurting him.

“Just- hold- on- We’ll- make it-”

“You know, it’s not polite to steal other’s puppets, green paladin.”

Pidge threw herself to the side as Haggar threw a blast of lightning at them. She set Keith down and activated her bayard.

“Back off, _witch_. I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

“Yes, but will you kill your friend?”

“What? NO! Don’t you dare! That’s not- you can’t-”

“Why, yes, I can. I control him by manipulating electrical impulses sent from his brain. Whether or not his body is in good condition- well, it can complicate the process, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. You know the interesting thing about half-breeds? When I use this process on a normal Galra, they simply wake up with no memory of what happened. But with a half-breed, he’s fully aware of what he’s doing, but is unable to stop it. He’s a passenger in his own body.”

Keith jerked to his feet behind Pidge, and she pulled out her bayard.

“Let him go, witch!”

“Now, you wouldn’t want to hurt him, would you? You know, I don’t think I’ll make him fight you. I know that hurt the blue paladin, his friend attacking him, but that won’t hurt you nearly as much as this will. Most of the time I let him keep his voice. But I don’t know…”

“Pidge.”

Pidge shuddered. This was… unnerving. That was Keith’s voice, that was his face, she’d even gotten his expression right. So true, so real, if Pidge didn’t know that he was so badly injured and physically incapable of doing this of his own will she would’ve fallen for it.

“Pidge, get out of here! Get out! Just leave me behind and _get out_!”

Pidge knew who it was, she knew it wasn’t him, but she responded anyway. “No! Family, remember?”

“Family? I’m not your family, Pidge! You’re not my sister! I’m not your brother! I never was! I don’t know where you got that jacked up notion, but _it’s not true_! I’m only in this to free the universe. I _don’t_ want to make friends, I _don’t_ want to get to know you, and I _certainly_ don’t want to be part of your family!”

Pidge stepped back, tears filling her eyes. It was fake, it was fake, it _had_ to be fake, Keith wouldn’t- she’d been so sure-

“You don’t-” Keith’s voice cracked. “You don’t understand! You don’t know what I went through! You have _no idea_ , so why don’t you just. back. off.”

“Keith…” Pidge bit her quivering lip.

He walked towards her, hands curled into fists, his expression so… Keith-like, exactly like his face was when he was angry, when he fought the Galra.

“Don’t say my name like that. Like you think we could be friends, like this is just a spat. You mean _nothing_ to me.”

He turned away from her. “Get out of here, Pidge. Run to people who actually care. Because I don’t.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, determined not to let the tears fall, determined to keep them in. So, she didn’t see Haggar creeping up on her.

“Pidge, watch out!”

Pidge’s eyes shot open as a blue laser fired past her, and Haggar, who’d been about to stab her, disappeared with a hiss. Whatever electrical impulse that had been holding Keith up disappeared, and he fell to the ground. Pidge walked slowly to him, still blinking away tears.

“P-Pidge… I…” He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. It wasn’t you.”

But it still hurt, it was still there, he may have been unable to control his actions, but it still burned, his words cutting in like a knife. Haggar was right. It had cut her _much_ more deeply to hear those words than he _ever_ could’ve hurt her physically.

Lance helped her drag Keith into the blue lion, and he told Allura to get two healing pods ready and get the wormhole ready to go. Pidge just sat silently, listening to Keith’s ragged breathing. Keith and Shiro might be the only ones who had been physically injured, but they were all going to carry scars from this.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wait, if the Blade of Marmora doesn't exist, then how did Shiro get out? Or: you thought I couldn't make Keith's past any more tragic and painful, and I said challenge accepted.

Pidge rubbed the cast on her hand. Allura had assured her that her fingers would heal and she would be able to use them again, but in the meantime, it felt weird for them to be sitting still. She was sitting in the med bay, watching an unconscious Shiro float in a cyro pod. Keith was floating in the pod next to him, but she was trying hard not to look at him. Every time she looked, every time she saw him floating there, his words, not his, but still from his mouth, mocking her feelings, mocking her affection.

It wouldn’t’ve hurt so much if he’d been cold, if he’d acted like Haggar, sharp and detached, but he’d acted so much like Keith, so incredibly lifelike that everything twisted like a knife in her heart.

Shiro shifted in his sleep, and Pidge jumped.

“Allura, is this normal? He’s moving.”

She steeled herself and looked at Keith. Sure enough, he was like a twitchy ferret in his stasis.

“Keith too. Is this alright? Should we do something?”

Allura gazed at the two unconscious paladins. “No, no, sometimes this part of the healing process can stir up memories. If those memories are stressful...”

Pidge winced as she thought of everything she knew about Shiro’s and Keith’s pasts. Whatever was happening in their minds could _not_ be good.

\-----------------

Shiro was strapped down to a table, a doctor hovering over him.

“What do you want? You already took my arm!”

“Shut up! Hey! You! Give me that tray!”

The doctor muttered something about ‘incompetent half-breeds’ and ‘this is why we should just use robots.’ Then there was a clanging noise, and the doctor collapsed, a seventeen-year-old human behind him, holding a medical tray, an expression of total horror on his face as he stared down at the unconscious body of his master.

Shiro strained to focus, drugs from the doctor making him woozy. Was that… he hadn’t seen him in nearly ten years, but he looked like…

“Wait… Keith?”

“It _is_ you. I knew it! Shiro, how did you end up here?!” he shook his head. “Never mind, I’m helping you escape.”

Keith undid Shiro’s bonds and helped him sit up.

“Keith. There were two other humans here, Matt and Sam Holt. Have you seen either of them?”

Keith shook his head. “I’m sorry, Shiro. You’re the only other human I’ve seen.”

Shiro sighed and looked at the ground. “Alright. Come on, then. We’re getting out of here.”

Keith looked at the ground. “No. I… I can’t come. I have a tracking chip, and… I don’t know where it is. They’ll just catch us both. You shouldn’t have one, though. They don’t normally put them in gladiators, since they die off pretty fast.”

“How… how did you know I was here?”

“I didn’t. I steer clear of the arena. All I knew was that Zarkon’s best gladiator, the ‘Champion’ was in here, and Lotor sent me to help. He thinks it’s hilarious to… to put me in situations where another human is and see what happens.”

“Other humans?”

Keith bit his lip and looked at the ground. “They… they never lasted long.”

“Are you absolutely sure you won’t come along?”

“I can’t. I’ll just put people in danger. There’s pods. If you can get to them, fly back to Earth.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll- I’ll be fine.”

Shiro could tell that he was lying, but he let it go. He _hated_ to leave Keith behind, but he knew he didn’t have much time. The room faded out of focus, and Keith smacked him.

“Shiro, wake up! I guess they messed with your head pretty good, huh?”

“Will I even…”

Keith closed his eyes. “I think… that drug… it might cause you to lose short term memories.”

“So I’ll forget…”

“That you ever saw me. It’s probably better that way. Just get out, get out alive, go back to Earth.”

“Alright. Stay as safe as you can, okay?”

Keith smiled, but it was a bitter smile. “Yes sir. Go.”

Shiro ran out the door, his fingers tapping out the rhythm of the sentries. Most of the slaves ignored him; in fact, a few of them smiled, unable to say anything to him, but glad he was able to escape all the same. Or maybe they were just glad that if he escaped they wouldn’t have to worry about facing him in the arena.

He tapped out the rhythm and ran around a corner, not expecting a hover-cart to be there. He ran, full speed, into it, knocking everything over. The sentries turned around, and Shiro started running to the sound of alarms.

Everything was closing down as they prepared to catch him. He could see the pod, he had to make it, otherwise all of Keith’s efforts and hopes and possibly punishment would be wasted. He dove for it, sliding into the pod just as it closed and steering it out of the ship. He leaned back in the seat, panting, as the drug took hold and he slipped into the darkness of sleep.

\-----------------

Pidge caught Shiro as he fell out of the pod, nearly dropping him because of the weight. Allura helped her get him to a chair and he stared at the pod where Keith was still floating, brow creased and moving around.

“It was Keith.”

Pidge tilted her head questioningly at Shiro, who was still weak, and struggling to focus.

“He helped me escape. But why…”

“Wouldn’t he remember it,” Pidge finished. She frowned. Why, indeed.

\-------------------

Keith watched Shiro go with a smug smile. See how the Empire liked _that_. Their precious ‘Champion’ was gone, hopefully never to return.

He heard Doctor Ulaz stir behind him, groaning, and sighed, closing his eyes.

“Wretched slave,” Ulaz roared, “How could you be so clumsy!” He turned and saw the empty table. “NO!”

He ran for the alarm, ready to alert the whole Galra ship to Shiro’s escape, but Keith tackled him.

“No! Don’t-”

“You _helped_ him?!”

Keith struggled to hold Ulaz back from the alarm. He _had_ to give Shiro as much time as possible.

“How _dare_ you!”

Ulaz wrenched Keith off of him as if he were no more than a pillow, holding him by the collar of his shirt.

“You _cannot_ rebel against the Galra Empire!”

He threw Keith with the strength of a fully-grown Galra into a table, his head making a nasty _crack_ as it slammed into the metal edge.

As his vision faded in and out, he could hear the alarms as well as Ulaz, growling as he kicked Keith.

“You’re not going to get away with this. I hope you want to see Emperor Zarkon, because you just earned yourself a ticket to his throne room.”

Xxx

Keith was shoved to his knees in front of Zarkon’s throne, handcuffed and head throbbing painfully. His brain wasn’t quite processing everything, but he could see Lotor smirking like his birthday had come early.

“You helped a prisoner escape.”

It wasn’t a question, but Keith answered anyway.

“Yes.”

“You’re going to tell me where he went.”

“I don’t know.”

“Is that so?”

“He never told me. He just left.”

“Make this easier on yourself. You’re going to get thrown out of an airlock, but you don’t have to suffer before you do.”

“I don’t want to get thrown out of an airlock. You can hurt me as much as you want. Your son built up my pain tolerance, so I can hold out for a long time.”

Zarkon glared at Lotor. “Clearly you didn’t beat the insolence out of him.”

“It appears that helping the other human has given him some primitive hope. That is hardly my fault.”

“One last chance. Where. Is. Champion.”

“I don’t know.”

Zarkon leaned back in his chair. “Fine. Take him away. I don’t want to see him anymore.”

Keith mentally sighed. This wasn’t going to be fun.

Xxx

“Has he told you yet?”

Keith’s torturer looked almost bored, like Keith was giving him absolutely no fun at all. What Keith had said earlier was true; Lotor had built up his pain tolerance so high, this barely even hurt. The worst part was the electricity; Lotor didn’t exactly carry a cattle-prod around.

“He told us again that he didn’t know where Champion went, and hasn’t said much since.”

Zarkon’s eyes glinted, and Keith had the shudder-y feeling of seeing a resemblance between the Emperor and his son.

“If this isn’t working, I have a suggestion.” A smile played at the corners of his lips. “I can promise it won’t be fun for you.”

Xxx

“A rock, sir?”

Zarkon smiled. “A boulder, yes. Place it on top of his chest, and it will slowly crush him to death. Assuming, of course, he’s not ready to talk.” He turned to Keith. “Are you going to tell us where Champion went to? We know, of course, that he went to Earth, but we do not know his exact whereabouts. I’m sure somewhere he told you where to find him if you ever escaped.”

“I. Don’t. Know. I honestly don’t. When are you going to believe me?!”

Zarkon nodded to the soldier, who threw Keith to the ground, and before he could move or get up, pushed the boulder on top of him. Keith let out a _whoosh_ of air as the boulder knocked it out. It was already getting hard to breathe, each breath a painful effort. He could feel his ribs starting to give under the pressure, and he wondered how long it would be until they broke.

Xxx

“Sir, it appears that his chest may cave in soon.”

“Has he told you anything?”

“He can’t talk, sir.”

Zarkon heaved a sigh, as if he couldn’t _believe_ the _nerve_ Keith had to be unable to talk while being crushed by a boulder.

“Very well. Get it off.”

The druid rolled the rock off of Keith and he sucked in a deep breath, coughing. Each cough accented the fact that most of his ribs were broken. He curled into fetal position, still coughing, horrified when blood came out of his mouth.

“Where did Champion go?”

“Please,” Keith wheezed, “I don’t know. Just… stop.”

“You’re a stubborn one, aren’t you?”

Keith didn’t answer. He was too busy coughing and trying not to die. A sudden kick to the ribs made him give a strangled shout-whimper.

“Answer me, filth. Where is Champion?!”

The druid grasped him by the hair, yanking him to his feet.

“Answer your emperor!”

Keith somehow managed to look Zarkon in the eyes, his own purple ones pits of despair.

“I don’t know. He never told me.”

Keith had once seen a movie where a masked antagonist snapped the spine of some guy who dressed as a bat at nighttime. Using the same move, the druid broke his.

Agony, red hot agony raced through his whole body as the druid dropped him to the floor. He could vaguely hear Zarkon asking him where Shiro was, but he didn’t answer, _couldn’t_ answer. Everything felt like it was on fire, every nerve and synapse burning.

Zarkon called for a sentry to take him away. He wanted to protest, but couldn’t as he was dragged down the hallways, every move jarring him painfully. He heard whispers of pity, of horror, of disgust.

He was dumped on a pile of bodies, and some part of him that wasn’t paying attention to the pain felt vaguely horrified. Here were the bodies of the losing gladiators for today, of the slaves who’d been overworked, of the slaves who had been killed in a work accident. They were all thrown into a fire to burn; the Galra didn’t want dead bodies floating around, which is why they also burned the people sent out of an airlock.

Some small part of him was okay with this. Some part of him said _okay, you’re done, you really tried, now just give up and let yourself burn._ Some part of him was tired of all the pain and suffering and just wanted to pass out on this disgusting pile of corpses and get incinerated with the rest.

But that part was quickly eclipsed by his desire to live, his need to push on, his fear of death as well as his innate desire to survive as a slap in the face to the Galra who had expected him to die after a week and still made bets as to how soon he was going to collapse.

That was why he tried to claw his way out. At least he knew his arms weren’t paralyzed. The floor tilted, and Keith could see the furnace, which wasn’t hot enough to incinerate him instantly, it would be excruciatingly painful first. He scrabbled for the top of the floor which was now a slide, but he couldn’t make it and slid back into the furnace.

Hot. Flames everywhere, burning, licking his clothes and scorching his skin. He screamed.

“Hold it, shut it down! We’ve got a live one!”

There was shouting and pattering of feet as the flames died out almost instantly as cool water hissed down from the ceiling. Blessed, cool water that washed away some of the pain.

Strong hands picked him up. “Hold on, I got you. I’ve got you, son. Hey,” he shouted to some of the other men, “Someone tell Anna! I’ll be right behind you!”

Keith flinched away from the alien holding him at the loud noise.

“Whoa, hey, I’m not going to hurt you. It’s okay, hold on. We’re going to get you help. Check the other bodies,” he said softly to one of his helpers, “It looks like they’re in a cruel mood today.”

Keith was carried through the halls, his vision fading in and out, and although the alien was gentle, it still jarred everything and every step was pain incarnate.

“My goodness! What happened?! Here, let me see.” Someone else took him out of the first alien’s arms, a more feminine person. He whimpered, and she brushed the bangs out of his hair softly as she set him down on a bed. “Shhh. I’ve got you. Alright, don’t freak out, I’m going to inject you with something, it’ll make you feel better, I promise. Just a warning, it’s going to knock you out; I need to make sure you won’t hurt yourself while I fix your back and ribs.”

Keith felt a needle pierce his skin, and felt himself getting sleepier and sleepier. The last thing he saw was a dark-skinned woman with white hair and pointy ears holding his hand with a smile.

“You probably won’t remember your whole day, let alone this, but this is what I really look like. My real name’s Allura. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.

\-----------------

“Wait, he’s coming out! Ah, Hunk, catch him! Oh, never mind, Allura’s got him.”

Keith fell out of coldness onto someone warm, but strong. White hair on dark skin. Pointy ears. Where was he? On the Castle, on the command center?

“It’s okay,” Allura whispered, “I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has trust issues, Lance lives in a constant state of guilt, Hunk is a heck of a lot darker than we think, Shiro is paranoid (except it's not paranoia when it's real) and Pidge is (surprisingly) the best at following her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. This chapter was not supposed to get as long as it did.

“Hey, Keith.”

Keith turned questioningly to Shiro.

“When I was in the cyro sleep, I remembered my escape.” He clasped Keith on the shoulder. “Thanks. I really owe you one. Did… did anything bad happen because of that?”

Shiro was looking at him with such concern, such worry that Keith couldn’t make himself say what happened, couldn’t put guilt on Shiro. He shrugged.

“Nah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? When you first showed up?”

“Uh, I had an accident later. They used the same drug, and that whole day just went down the drain. I actually just remembered in the cyrosleep too.”

Shiro smiled, relieved. “Oh, okay. Thanks again.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

\---------------

“Paladins, we received a distress call. I want all five of you to go, just in case.”

 _Because of what happened last time._ The unspoken words hovered in the air. No one wanted a disastrous repeat of that, and Allura wasn’t taking any chances.

\-----------------

“I can’t believe it!” An amphibious looking alien came scurrying out of a hut. “Help has arrived! At last! Oh, thank you, kind people, for helping us in our hour of need.”

Shiro blinked. “Uh, no problem. What’s the trouble?”

Some of the aliens let out a wail, and the leader bowed his head dramatically.

“For centuries, our planet remained unconquered by the Galra Empire. They did not see the point in conquering us, the peaceful Awadhi, and we lived in peace. Until one day. That fateful day, thousands of years ago. The Galra came swooping in, taking our children, our women, our strongest men. We fled, as far as we could. But Galra had corrupted the jungle against us, and we barely made it out alive. The Galra left, but their corruption stayed. Not long ago, a band of deserters took some of our own.”

The other aliens let out a collective sigh.

“They disappeared into the jungle, and we haven’t seen them since. We cannot venture into the forest, but perhaps _you_ can! Please, you must return our comrades to us!”

Shiro looked at the others, who shrugged. “Alright. We’ll find them. Is there any map of the jungle, or a guide or anything?”

The aliens all looked to a path that led away from the village. The leader pointed.

“Down that way lives the One Who Spent Too Much Time in the Forest. Seek her out. She will help you, if she’s in the mood for it. Beyond that, I can’t tell you.”

“Alright, then. We’ll bring your friends back soon.”

\------------------

“So, what kind of person do you think this guide is? I mean, she lives far away from the village, so do you think, I don’t know, maybe she’s a criminal or something?”

Shiro gave Lance an exasperated look. “Lance, you do realize that there’s a middle ground, right? Maybe she just doesn’t like people much. Or maybe other people don’t like her much. Living on your own doesn’t immediately make you a criminal.”

“Yeah,” Hunk chimed in, “Keith’s house is all far away from civilization and stuff.”

Lance looked at Keith and then to Shiro, nodding like that explained everything. “I rest my case.”

“Hey!”

“Alright, stop it, all of you. We’re here.”

In front of them was a little wooden hut, the roof grass, with a little garden outside of it.

“Hello.”

All five paladins jumped. Behind them was a girl who looked to be about fourteen, with faintly lavender amphibious skin but dark blue/black/purple hair sprouting from her head. Her eyes were an odd forest green with flecks of yellow in them like little forest fires.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Um, are you…”

“The One Who Spent Too Much Time in the Forest? Why, yes. But my name is Tlatoani. What are your names?”

“I’m Shiro. This is Keith, Lance, Pidge and Hunk.”

“Hm. You have traveled from across the stars.”

“Uh- yeah. How’d you know?”

Tlatoani smiled mischievously. “I spent too much time in the forest. We’d better get going.”

“Sorry, what?”

“Do you want to find those missing Awadhi or not?”

\-------------

“Wait, so this jungle, they said it got corrupted by the Galra.”

“Only in a manner of speaking. Tyesha doesn’t mean for this to happen.”

“Who now?”

“The creature in the jungle that controls the jungle.”

“Wait, controls the jungle?” Keith frowned. “So, shouldn’t we just kill it? And then all of this will stop?”

The forest seemed to get darker and more foreboding around them. Tlatoani put her hand soothingly on a vine that was dangerously close to Keith neck.

“Forgive him. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” She turned back to Keith, frowning. “That’s not how it works. Tyesha is incredibly sensitive to the state of the universe; she reflects the state of the universe, and the jungle reflects her. That is why the jungle is this way. Even as you enter the jungle, the jungle enters you. It reflects what it sees.”

“Maybe we should gag Keith,” Lance suggested. The jungle got even darker, and thorns seemed to grow at their feet. Lance yelped. “I was joking! Nice jungle, nice jungle!”

Tlatoani pointed to a bunch of flowers, growing in a patch of sunlight. “You see, there are beautiful things reflected here too. The universe has good in it, as well as the bad.”

Shiro frowned. “You said you spent too much time in the jungle. What does that have to do with anything?”

Tlatoani looked at the ground, smiling. “I’m part Galra. I’m shunned from society because I don’t look right, and because of my heritage. As a result, I spent lots of time in the jungle. Over time, the jungle changed me. I became more attuned to the jungle, and more attuned to the universe and the people living in it. I can pick up people’s thoughts and feelings. That particular talent didn’t make me any more popular with the villagers.” She pointed to her eyes. “I used to have yellow eyes. The jungle changed that, too, and now only flecks of the original color remain.”

She smiled again and pushed on. “Come on. I’m sure it won’t be long!”

\---------------

Keith pushed to the front of the group, and Tlatoani slowed down to walk in step with him.

“You’re angry on the inside.”

“Uh, sorry, what?”

“You push people away because you’re scared that they’ll do the same to you. Everything hurts on the inside, but you don’t share it with the people who love you. You should.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“There was a woman. She left you and your father. So you put up walls. You hate her for leaving you, and that hate is chewing on your soul.”

“I didn’t come here to talk about my family issues.”

“She loves you. I can tell.”

“You never met her, how could you know that?”

“I’m in tune with the universe, remember? And I can feel that love, the motherly love she has for you. You may not have ever known her, but it clings to you, an unraveling spool of thread across the universe that connects you to her.”

He snorted, and she shook her head.

“You don’t have to acknowledge it, but it’s still a part of you. And you know what? Deep inside, where you won’t ever admit it, not even to yourself, you love her too.”

He stopped, stock still, and she walked past him, the other paladins close behind, each of them expressing concern.

“Keith, are you okay?”

Keith shook off Shiro’s query.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” He traipsed on, keeping his distance from their guide. “You don’t know anything about me,” he muttered, “You know nothing at all.”

\-----------------

“Hey, Lance.”

“What’s up?”

Hunk frowned. “Tlatoani said that she was a half-Galra.”

“Yeah?”

“But the village leader said that the Galra came _millenniums_ ago, and then kind of left them alone until now.”

“Oh. Got it.”

“How could she possibly be that old?! She doesn’t even look older than us!”

Lance shrugged. “She’s an alien. Zarkon and Lotor have been around for millenniums. Who knows? Maybe it’s a Galra thing.”

“I’m going to ask.”

Lance frowned. “Isn’t that a bit of a personal question?”

“Don’t you want to know? You know, in case we’re following a ghost or something?”

Hunk pushed to keep pace with Tlatoani.

“Hi! Hey, I was wondering-”

“Yes.”

“Uh, sorry, what?”

“I’m alive. I’m not a ghost or a figment of your imagination. I’m real.”

“Wouldn’t a ghost or figment of my imagination say that too?”

She laughed, her laugh clear and high like a bell. “I like you! You ask important questions! Well, you’re right. You could be sleeping in your home, or maybe I’m not the real Tlatoani, maybe the real Tlatoani is an old crone who has you tied up and is giving you hallucinations. How do we know any of us exist? How do you know that you’re not a brain that popped into existence for five seconds?”

“I wait five seconds.”

“Exactly. Just wait. You’ll see if any of this is real or not if you’re just patient.” She smiled and patted his hand. “And your hobby isn’t stupid. Cooking is a _very_ fine profession, and you shouldn’t be embarrassed.”

She sped back to her original pace, leaving Hunk behind in the dust, blinking.

\---------------

“Did you find out if she’s a ghost?”

“Uh, she said wait.”

Lance tapped his fingers for a couple of seconds and then grinned. “Okay, I waited, I don’t think she’s a ghost. She’s kind of pretty.”

“Lance, don’t make her mad.”

“I won’t, I’m just saying, she’s a nice, eligible young lady-”

“Who may or may not be centuries old.”

“Don’t think of it that way! She seems pretty great, and who knows? The future Mrs. Blue Lion has got to be out there somewhere!”

Hunk shook his head, but didn’t discourage him as he sauntered up to Tlatoani.

“Hey there. I-”

“Why do you hide it?”

Lance blinked. “Sorry, what?”

“Why do you hide your sadness and pain behind jokes and flirting?”

“I… I’m not sure how I’m supposed to respond to that.”

She smiled gently. “Truthfully.”

“I… I’m worried. I’m worried about the universe, I’m worried about my family, I’m worried about what might happen to my friends, I’m worried that I’m always going to be alone, but mostly? I’m worried that if I tell anyone, they’ll laugh. I’m worried that they’ll shun me for my fears. And… well, everything is so serious, all of the time, and I think maybe the universe needs more happiness and laughter.” He looked at the ground. “Please don’t tell anyone I said any of that.”

“I won’t. And, by the way, I _am_ thousands of years old. Bit old for you, don’t you think?”

She smiled, and he smiled back, a little embarrassed for thinking she wouldn’t know what he’d thought.

“Yeah. Just a bit.”

\--------------

Pidge passed a familiar multi-colored rock and frowned. What were they doing back here? She raced to catch up with their guide.

“Hey, Tlatoani, I’m pretty sure I saw that rock back there not long ago. Are you sure you know where you’re going?”

“No one really knows the forest here. It does what it pleases.”

“Ooo-kay. But are we going to be actually getting anywhere?”

“You don’t like the thought of being lost.”

“Um, yes, exactly! And right now, we seem a little… well, lost.”

“We are wandering.”

“So… we’re lost.”

“Not all who wander are lost.”

“What?! Can you just give me a straight answer?!”

“You like riddles and puzzles, but I’m being too vague, yes? Tell me this, then. Why don’t you like feeling lost?”

“I just don’t.”

“Things have been happening in your life, things cycle through, and you couldn’t control them. You hate being lost, because being lost means you are helpless, and you’ve spent too much of your life helpless. You’re scared. Because of that, you feel like you need to be able to control every aspect that you can.”

“I… yes.”

“Learn to go with the flow a bit. Not everything can be controlled, and there are things that _shouldn’t_ be controlled.” She smiled. “And, yes. I know where I’m going.”

\--------------

Tlatoani slowed down to keep pace with Shiro. “Do you like it here?”

“Hm? Oh, well, it’s a little dark, but…” He took in a deep breath. “Everything is so… fresh. I _do_ like that.”

“You’re very connected.”

“What?”

“With the universe. Everything is connected in this universe, in some way, everybody tangling together, threads leading from one person to another. But you have more than most. They spread everywhere. Especially with your friends.” She nodded back to the other paladins. “You five… your threads are so completely intertwined, I don’t think anyone could rip you apart completely.”

“You really think so?”

“I would never doubt it. You’re a good leader, you know. I’ve seen how the others look at you; you’re their hero.”

“I don’t know… Sometimes…”

“Your past doesn’t define you, Takeshi Shirogane. You’ve been hurt, and you can’t remember it all, but you’re not broken, no matter what the Galra said.”

“How did you know my…”

Shiro trailed off as Tlatoani bounced off, gesturing to six paths that had _definitely_ not been there a few seconds ago. One path was dark and thorny, with poison ivy growing on the trees and boulders blocking things off. Another was light, with grass growing and flowers blooming, but it got darker up ahead and some of the grass turned to stones. The third was a typical “haunted forest” type of thing that Shiro remembered from Halloween, back before the Galra took over. Dark and scary, with ominous sounds emanating from it, cobwebs covering everything. The next path was incredibly dark, and it looked like you could lose your way but for the patches of light every now and then. The fifth path… Shiro felt called to it, even though it was dark and sharp stones jutted out of the ground, the small patches of dappled sunlight promised that this path wasn’t as bad as it seemed.

The last path promised sunshine and rainbows and flowers all the way down.

“Here they are,” Tlatoani announced proudly, “Your paths!”

“Um… What?”

“The forest has judged you and created your path. You have to follow your own, and no one can come with you. This one’s mine,” she said, nodding to the one that was all sunshine and rainbows, “Except plus a few flowers, I think.”

“Plus a few flowers?”

She nodded. “Here, flowers represent friendships. The better your relationship with that person, the more you understand them and let them in, the bigger and healthier your flowers are.” She pointed to a group of flowers. “Those are new.”

The new flowers were all shapes and sizes, the smallest a deep red flower with a black center and little spots of blue. The biggest was a soft black and purple flower with a yellow center. Right in the middle of the size range was a yellow flower with little black, blue and green speckles, and each petal was ringed with red. The flower the size below that was a green flower that didn’t quite look natural and had veins of white and purple running through it. The second largest flower was a swirl of blue, with speckles of red and black, the center a beautiful golden yellow.

“Hey, how come the yellow one had red on it?”

“The color red has many meanings. It can stand for anger, for passion, for bravery, for love, for stress, its meanings are endless.”

“Oh. So… do the paths ever meet?”

“If you follow your heart, they will lead you where you need to go. As far as I know, no path has ever crossed another, but you five are so entangled, it just might. That one is Shiro’s, I think.” She pointed to the path Shiro had been called to. “That one’s Pidge’s.” the dark path. “Lance’s.” The horror movie style. “Hunk’s.” Go figure. Hunk got the sunshine path. “And Keith’s.”

Keith gulped as he looked down his path with all of its thorns and other hindrances. Was this what the jungle saw in him?

He shook that thought away. This was stupid. They were just a bunch of trees, and he’d been cold to Tlatoani, so of course she picked the hardest and gloomiest path for him.

“Do we have instructions for these paths? A road we have to take?”

“Follow your heart, and if that fails, follow the flowers. They will lead you the right way.”

“This is stupid.”

Tlatoani’s eyes grew sad. “If you refuse to see, you won’t. I wish you all the best of luck. I’ll see you on the other side, hopefully.”

She started down her path, and Hunk gulped.

“Hopefully?”

Lance patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. She said follow your heart, and you’ve got the biggest heart of all of us.”

Keith looked down his path. He _really_ didn’t like it. Besides the hazards, it just sent off a very clear “get out of here and leave me alone” vibe. Then a nasty thought occurred to him.

“What if she’s lying? I mean, we have no idea who she is! She could be luring us in here so that the jungle could eat us!”

Hunk winced. “Ouch, that’s cold, Keith, even for you. She’s been really helpful.”

“Yeah, well, you catch more flies with honey.”

“Do _you_ know the way back?” Lance asked, “Because if you don’t, the only person who does disappeared down that path.”

“I…”

“Let’s just try it,” Shiro suggested, “If it turns out that there is something fishy going on, we can always leave and try to find those Awdhi ourselves.

Keith crossed his arms. “Fine. But just for the record, I _really_ don’t like this.”

“Dunno what you’re talking about,” Lance remarked, “Mine looks scary, but I’m feeling really pulled towards it. What about the rest of you?”

Everybody but Keith nodded and said yes, their paths were calling them. Keith sighed. He _really_ hoped that this wasn’t a trap. Because if it was, he wasn’t sure the others would realize it.

\--------------------

Lance looked around. This path was _really_ gloomy, geeze. There was sunlight, way up above, but it was blocked out by a canopy of trees. If this path really _did_ reflect who he was, then apparently he was blocking good things from himself.

What was it that Tlatoani had said? That he used jokes and flirting to hide how sad he was on the inside? Maybe… maybe this represented that sentiment. Maybe the sunshine was the jokes and flirting, so on the outside he looked happy, but the sadness was growing up and blocking the happiness from the inside.

He shook his head. He was being stupid. They might “reflect who he was on the inside” or something, but they were just trees. He was overanalyzing, which wasn’t normally something anyone could accuse him of.

When he looked ahead, he could see a figure in a Galra prison uniform. He’d made it out! Tlatoani had been right; the path _had_ led him where he needed to be. He’d found one of the prisoners!

“Hey, there! I’m Lance, we’re going to get you out, don’t worry.”

The person turned around, and Lance stopped.

“Keith? What’re you-”

Keith glared coldly at him and… he didn’t walk, more… floated away.”

“Hey, wait up!”

Lance raced to catch up, grabbed Keith, and turned him around

“Hey, what’s going-”

He stepped back. Keith had three laser wounds, one in his stomach, one in his arm and one in his hip.

“What…”

“You did this. You did this to me!”

Keith leaped on him with a feral growl, and Lance stumbled back with a yell, firing his bayard. It hit Keith, and he disappeared with a _hiss_.

Lance stared at the spot where his friend had been, panting. It hadn’t been real. It hadn’t been Keith. He let out one deep breath and tried to calm his jumping heart. He was liking this less and less by the second.

\--------------

Pidge jumped as an animal nearby startled her.

“It’s okay, Pidge,” she reassured herself, “It’s just a squirrel, or something. Nothing to worry about. Not anything scary and diabolical and likely to eat you.”

Her words echoed in the silence. _Eat you, eat you, eat you._

“Great. Ooo-kay. Nothing here will hurt you. It’s just a forest with echoes, which shouldn’t actually be possible.”

_Possible, possible, possible._

“I hate this. Okay. This’ll be fine. Just… echoes. Heh. I’m Pidge,” she called.

_Katie, Katie, Katie._

Her blood chilled. “I’m Pidge,” she called again.

_Katie, Katie, Katie._

Okay. There was _definitely_ something wrong with this forest.

“My brother is Matt,” she called.

_Gone, gone, gone._

“My dad is Sam Holt!”

_Lost, lost, lost._

“I’m a paladin of Voltron.”

_Paladin, paladin, paladin._

“I have a family, a new family.”

_Alone, alone, alone._

“I’m not alone! I’m not scared! I’m not…”

_Lost, lost, lost._

\--------------

Hunk eyed his path suspiciously. There was absolutely _no way_ that his path could be this nice all the time. He tried to be a nice person, sure, but he wasn’t perfect. He had his dark side. So why was everything sunshine and rainbows?

Some feeling told him to step off the path. What had Tlatoani told him? Follow your heart? He walked into the grass, waiting, waiting…

The sunshine disappeared. A dark forest, and… the floor was wet. Wet and sticky. He forced himself to look down and saw blood. He stumbled backwards with a shout and suddenly, he was back in the sunshine.

Hunk shuddered. What was that?! When he had thought to himself that he wasn’t all sunshine, he also hadn’t thought he was that dark! Where those his only two options? Disney movie or horror movie?!

He took in a deep breath. He could think this out. Sunshine at first. All the goodness and positivity he tried to give others. Dark, blood, what could that possibly- oh. Oh. The Balmera. He hadn’t told… anyone. He hadn’t told anyone. He should’ve, he knew he should’ve, but then everything happened, with Keith and Pidge and the escape, and he’d… he’d been too afraid to mention it.

The darkness hidden below the sunshine. All the times on Earth he’d seen someone hurt but was unable, or maybe just too scared to help. If you got past the support, what he put off the surface, what you couldn’t see if you didn’t look past the path…

Hunk almost threw up into a bush. He couldn’t… his heart was everywhere, and everything was getting darker, the path disintegrating at his feet. He didn’t know where he was going- he was going to get lost, someone was going to find his skeleton in a few centuries and-

He looked down. A blue flower was blooming at his feet. A few feet away, a green one was sprouting, a trail of flowers, red, black, pink, orange and white (which he supposed were Tlatoani’s friendship) flowers sprinkled in the majority of blue and green.

_Follow the flowers. They will lead you the right way._

\---------------

Shiro’s head whipped up as something moved in the underbrush. Something had been stalking him for the last- he didn’t know how long, there was no time here, he could’ve been here for weeks, he wouldn’t even know-

Shiro told himself to calm down. He hadn’t been here for weeks. If he’d been here for weeks, he would feel a _lot_ hungrier. Reason. Logic.

But time was an illusion. What if time was wonky here? What if everything was screwed up? Time didn’t have to immediately work, what if this was reverse Narnia and when he got out of here it had been a hundred years?!

_Patience yields focus._

He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. There was no need to panic. He was going to be fine. He just had to-

The path was gone. He was standing by himself. What could’ve… He’d thought with his head. He’d trusted reason, and now…

 _But my heart told me to reason my way out of it,_ his mind thought rebelliously, _so what’s up with that? Stupid plants._

He shook his head. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to just start listening to his heart again? Wander randomly? None of this made any sense!

_You can’t trust your mind, Champion._

Shiro’s head whipped around as Haggar’s voice echoed around him.

_Your head was your last sanction, but we hacked it as easily as the green paladin hacks our computers._

Shiro tried to hone in on her voice, but it was everywhere. Everywhere and nowhere, real but artificial.

_You are **nothing**!_

Haggar lunged out of nowhere, and Shiro spun out of the way, her claws catching him in the side as he sliced her, her form disappearing into mist, her cackle still hanging in the air.

Shiro dropped to his knees, gasping. Haggar’s claws had sliced right into his skin and the wound was glowing. Why was it glowing? That was just cheating, plain and simple.

When his vision stopped skidding in and out of focus, he looked at his feet and saw a single crimson flower blooming at the edge of his boots, another one appearing a few feet away.

_Follow the flowers. They will lead you the right way._

Shiro forced himself to his feet, holding one hand to his side, and followed the flowers. The path got darker, thorns and stones popping up underneath him. The flowers seemed to be strangled, and somewhere along the way had turned black and purple, like he was following his friendship to another person and then he saw a human figure. He stumbled towards it, glad to see anyone at this point.

“Shiro?”

Shiro stumbled out of the thorns into a _very_ confused Keith. “Oh. Hi. Fancy meeting you here.” With that comment, his eyes rolled back in his head and he pitched forward as everything went dark.

\---------------

Author’s note: I’m skipping back in time to when Keith first started his path. Don’t get confused.

\------------

Keith cursed as he tripped over yet another tree root. Path, his foot. He hadn’t had a path. The illusion of a possible path through the thorns and poison ivy had disappeared the instant he’d set his foot in this God-forsaken forest. And flowers? Forget about it. He hadn’t seen any flowers; nothing could possibly grow in these thorns.

“Help!”

Keith’s head whipped to the side. Somewhere, far off, someone was trapped in the thorns. He sliced through some of the thorns, pushing his way through with brute force until he reached the person trapped in thorns.

It was a Galra soldier. He was struggling against the thorns furiously to no avail. From the looks of it, he’d already been here for about a week. Keith turned around to leave.

“Hey! Wait! Please don’t go!”

“Why not?”

“You’re a paladin! Isn’t helping people what you do?”

“I help people who deserve it. You kidnapped a bunch of people; you deserve to be stuck.”

“Please, I don’t want to die! The crazy half-Galra- she tricked us into it!”

Keith stopped. “What was that?”

“We just wanted to get off this planet! We went to the half-Galra- she told us that the only way out was through the jungle, and that the only way through the jungle was to bring some of the natives along. We were going to let them go, I swear! But that’s how she works! She tricks people into the forest for the creature she serves. The creature is the forest, and people who get lost in here are preyed upon.”

“The natives?”

The Galra shook his head. “All eaten, along with my companions. I’m the only one left Please, you have to get me out of here! You have to kill the creature!”

Keith carefully weighed his choices before slicing through the thorns, pulling the Galra out.

“Thank you.”

“Where’s the creature?”

The Galra snarled and laughed. “The only creature here is the one inside you, _boy,_ ” he hissed. One arm slammed into Keith’s chest, sending him backwards into the thorns a few feet. He saw the Galra jumping at him, shouting, and he swung his bayard in a sweeping arc. The Galra dissolved into mist, his voice echoing long after he was gone.

 _You just don’t trust anyone, boy. When’re you going to learn?_ ’

Keith sat up, panting and wincing as he yanked thorns out of his skin. Some of them had gone in far, though, and he sighed as he realized he was going to need someone else to pull them out. Probably with long medical tweezers.

Great. This forest caused hallucinations, too. Of _course_ it did. Why not? You couldn’t just fill it with thorns and poison ivy, you had to put weird apparitions that could touch you. He _really_ hated this place.

\--------------

Lance wandered through the woods, going where his feet took him. He hadn’t seen any other hallucinations, or whatever those things were, but he jumped every time there was a rustle in the underbrush.

“Lance.”

Lance jumped about ten feet in the air and then spotted what had made the noise. His skin went deadly pale. It was his older brother, Xavier.

 Xavier had died when Lance was six.

The apparition looked exactly like Xavier’s body had when he’d been fished out of the river. Pale, dripping water… missing somehow. The only difference, the only chilling difference was that his eyes were open.

“Lance. Come with me.”

“Xavier, you- I- you’re dead!”

“Lance, I never really died. You, your memories of me, you kept me alive. Your guilt, however…”

“No! I don’t want to think about it, don’t make me!”

“We were in the river. We’d snuck away from work, we thought we were so smart. You got caught in a current that carried you away, and you couldn’t swim very well.”

Lance pressed his hands over his ears, but the events of that day were already replaying in his head.

He’d been caught in that current, and he’d gone under. Without a second thought, Xavier had dived into the water after him. It’d been fine. He’d pulled Lance up onto a rock and had been climbing up onto the rock himself when the unexpected had happened.

A log had been caught in the current and had slammed into Xavier, knocking him off into the river. He’d been dazed, and the current had carried him away, out of Lance’s reach. They’d found him two days later, and one of Lance’s other siblings had tried to shield his eyes, but he’d still seen it.

“It’s cold, Lance. Really, _really_ cold.”

“You’re not here! You’re not! This is some kind of hallucination!”

“It’s not, Lance. I will _always_ be there. As long as you hold on to that guilt, I’m always going to haunt you. It won’t always be like this, face to face, but you’ll always feel bad about it. You’ll be clinging to my ghost if you don’t just let go of the guilt.”

“Get out!”

“Do you really want me to do that? I’m a part of you now. Leaving might cause unexpected consequences.”

“Go away!”

“Why? Do you really want that, deep down inside?”

“I don’t want you to leave. I want you to be with me, Xavier. But… you can’t be here right now, and I don’t need you!”

Xavier smiled. “If that’s what you want.” He turned and faded away. _It’s not your fault._

Lance sighed. His heart hurt. He wanted Xavier, he wanted him back, but the shade had been right. This wasn’t good. He couldn’t cling to that, as much as he wanted to, as much as it still hurt. He had to get out of this right now. He had to think rationally. He couldn’t just do what his heart wanted to do, which was sit down and cry his eyes out and possibly just sit here until he died.

He wondered why everything was black and then opened his eyes. He hadn’t even realized that they were closed. But… where was the path? Where was everything?

A chilling realization caught up to him. His heart. He’d stopped listening to it. He could see now that he would’ve cried, he would’ve wallowed in his guilt for a bit, but he would’ve ultimately gotten up and moved on, and he would’ve felt better for it. But there was always a place to cry, to stop and feel. If he just kept going for the mission, for the world, for his head, who would mourn? Who would stop to feel for the fallen? Who would stop to sympathize with the families?

He was the one who forever dealt with the consequences, he was the one who stopped, the one who had the what-if’s. Hunk was compassionate, Hunk was kind, but Hunk moved on, Lance was the one who remembered every mistake, tried to avoid repeating history.

He had no brain, he wasn’t smart, he didn’t logic his way out of things, he used his heart, used his mistakes. And now… what was happening to him? Suddenly he was thinking like a soldier, what was happening?! He ran his fingers through his hair, hyperventilating.

Something caught his eye, and he turned to see a yellow flower blooming, a green one a few feet away.

_Follow the flowers. They will lead you the right way._

\----------------

“I’m Pidge, I’m a paladin of Voltron, I’m not alone. I’m Pidge, I’m a paladin of Voltron, I’m not alone. I’m Pidge, I’m a paladin of Voltron, I’m not-”

_Alone, alone, alone._

Pidge squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to cry.

_I’m not crying, I’m not crying._

“Pidge.”

Pidge looked up, tears in her eyes to see Matt, grinning and holding out his arms.

“Matt!” She ran and hugged him, glad he didn’t dissolve.

“You need to get out of here. I’ll show you the way.”

“How do you know the way?”

“I’m a part of you Katie, all the time. I’m deep in your heart.”

“The forest reflects who you are inside.”

“Exactly. And deep inside, I’m with you. So of course I’m here, where you’re following your heart.”

“So… you’re not real?”

Matt smiled again and held out a hand for her to take. “I’m as real as your love for me.”

They walked through the forest, hand in hand. Pidge looked down at the ground.

“Hey, there are flowers!”

Matt smiled warmly. “Of course there are. When you follow your heart, your friends are there. They’re harder to see until you lose your way and stop following your heart, which your friends have learned, but they’re always there, every step of the way. They help guide and shape you in ways you can’t see until later.”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“I am too, Katie. We’re almost there.”

“I can see it! I can see the end of the path!”

“Remember, Pidge. Even when you can’t see me, I’m here with you.”

Matt faded away, replaced with a grinning Tlatoani, who hugged Pidge.

“I knew you could do it!”

“Wow. Am I the first one out?”

“Yes, you are, but Hunk and Lance should be here soon. They lost their way, but I think they’ll be alright. Shiro and Keith are worrying me, though.”

“What?”

Tlatoani frowned into the distance. “Shiro let his fears grow too large, and Keith… oh, my. He lost the path, and he can’t see the flowers.”

“What?!”

“He has them, they’re there, but they’ve been choked by all of the pain and all of the things he hides, he’s pushing the flowers away.”

“Can’t we go to him?!”

Tlatoani shook her head. “If he cannot see the flowers, he won’t see you.” Her green eyes were clouded, the yellow specks glowing. “I’m afraid he’s on his own.”

\-------------------

How was he supposed to get out of this thornpit?! Everything was SHARP and things kept POKING him and scratching him and he wanted to light a FIRE and BURN EVERYTHING!

_Patience yields focus._

Keith took in a deep breath. He’d been trudging through this with no idea of where he was going. Maybe he needed to think a little more. No path. For now, he had to assume he could trust Tlatoani, because she was the only one who knew absolutely anything about this forest. She had said that when the path had failed, to follow the flowers, which apparently stood for friendship, absolute nonsense, of course, but maybe the flowers did lay out a trail. He looked around, scanning for flowers. Where _were_ they? He’d thought he’d seen them…

He spotted a blue flower and raced towards it. It was sickly and pale, a tiny flower choked by the thorns and poison ivy. Keith bit his lip and looked around for another. He couldn’t see them. He couldn’t see any flowers.

What if this really was him? What if all the thorns… were they things preventing him from making friends? Were they the walls he put up? He knelt next to the flower. This was him. This was his friendship, small and weak, struggling to survive because of his trust issues.

A single tear leaked from his eye, splattering to the ground. The soil where it hit writhed and twisted, a black flower pushing its head out of the ground. Another one popped out of the ground a few feet later, and again, and again, picking a path through the thorns.

Keith’s heartbeat accelerated. A second chance. A way out. He ran, following the flowers, racing through the thorns, not a single one touching him.

A rustling sounded nearby, and Keith got his bayard ready. If this was another stupid apparition…

The rustling noise got louder, and a human figure emerged from the thorns, where the flowers had headed to. Keith’s brow creased as the flowers sank slowly back into the ground.

“Shiro?”

“Oh. Hi. Fancy meeting you here.”

Shiro’s eyes rolled back into his head, and he pitched forward. Keith lunged and caught him, grunting as the weight nearly knocked him over.

“What are you doing here?”

Shiro didn’t answer, being unconscious and all, and Keith sighed. A patch of thorns seemed to magically clear away for Keith to set Shiro down in an _incredibly_ soft patch of grass that couldn’t’ve possibly been under there. He glared at the forest around him.

“I’m sorry, did you just imply that I’m a massive softy?”

The forest didn’t respond. Great. He was talking to trees and thorns now. First sign of insanity.

“Okay. I’ve got an injured Shiro, and I’m on my own in a strange forest with no hope of rescue. Now what?”

He tapped his feet and sighed again. Oh, boy. He really was insane for thinking this.

“Okay, stupid freaking forest. Right now, all I want is to get Shiro out. That’s all I need. Then you can go back to showing me what a massive pain I am on the inside, okay?”

As if they agreed, the thorns shrank back, showing a path through them. Keith smiled.

“Alright. Thanks.”

Keith pulled one of Shiro’s arms over his shoulder, half-carrying him, half-dragging him along the path.

“You’d better wake up soon,” he panted at Shiro, “You’re _really_ heavy.”

There was no reply. Shiro didn’t stir. Keith sighed. He would do everything he could to get out of here, but he had no way of knowing how long this path was, or where he was going.

_You belong to us_

Keith’s head shot up as Lotor’s voice echoed through the trees. He gently set Shiro down and pulled out his bayard. This had to be another apparition hallucination. He glared at the trees around him.

“I thought we had a deal!”

There was a silence, and the trees seemed like they were apologizing to him, like, _sorry, mate, this is your brain/heart, not ours._

“41.”

“My name,” Keith growled, “is Keith.”

Lotor’s eyes glinted. “Does it matter? At the end of the day, you’re just a meat sack with attitude. And you belong to me.”

“Come get me, then.”

Keith looked down at Shiro. He _couldn’t_ get Shiro caught up in this; he might not survive it. He would have to lead Lotor away, hopefully somewhere he could get Lotor caught in a patch of thorns.

Some rational part of him told him that this was an apparition, and, being a part of the forest, wouldn’t be hurt by the thorns. He ignored it. This had to work. Shiro was counting on him.

“Bye.”

Keith turned and sprinted down the path, Lotor growling and chasing after him. He was getting far enough, he could actually make this work.

“Going somewhere?”

Keith yelped and backpedaled, tripping on a tree root as Lotor appeared in front of him. He felt his ankle twist as he went down, and he shouted at the sudden pain. He barely brought his bayard in time to block Lotor’s sword strike.

His ankle was sprained, he could tell, and he wouldn’t last long, especially here on the ground. He kicked out desperately with his uninjured foot, catching Lotor on the shin. Lotor hopped up and down, cursing in Galran and wincing, and Keith sliced him with his bayard. He disappeared into the mist.

_You belong to us, 41._

Keith winced. Sprained ankle. In survival training back at the Castle, he’d been told to just stay put and call for help, but that wasn’t possible here. Their coms had fizzled out the instant they’d stepped on their paths, and the other paladins weren’t going to be able to help them. He pushed himself to his feet, using his bayard as a crutch/cane to support his injured ankle. He cursed silently to himself, trying hard to ignore the pain as he hobbled back down the path, where Shiro seemed to be awake.

“Keith, I heard you shout, is everything- oh, no. You’re injured!”

Keith let out a breathless laugh. “Yeah? What about you? At least I don’t have a glowing alien wound. I- I just sprained my ankle.”

“Keith, you need to sit down and let me take a look at your ankle.”

Keith shook his head. “No- no time. We’ve got to get out of here.”

“Keith, sit down.”

“I’m fine, Shiro.”

“Sit.”

Keith sat.

Shiro winced as he scooted to get a closer look at Keith. This was _really_ not helping the wound, but he had to make sure Keith was okay.

“What happened?”

“The stupid forest hates me. Lotor popped up, and I tripped over a tree root. We’re never telling Lance about that last part.”

“Understood.”

Shiro examined Keith’s ankle. It didn’t look broken, just sprained. It was going to hurt, but he wouldn’t be permanently damaged. He thought back to survival training back with the resistance. He didn’t have any ice to put on this, but he could splint it to keep it stabilized and Keith had been using his sword has a crutch. That was about as best as they could hope for.

“Hold still, okay?”

Keith grunted as Shiro started wrapping up his ankle, strapping a strong stick on either side of his ankle to keep it immobilized.

“Of _course_ you have a small hospital in your belt. Why does that not surprise me?”

Shiro smiled. “Back on Earth, this was called being a boy scout.”

“I know. My dad called you one all the time when you weren’t around.”

“He did _what_ now?!”

“We need to get moving.”

“You’re not going to get far on that ankle,” Shiro pointed out.

Keith shoved himself up with his bayard. “And you’re not going to get very far with that wound. We’ll make it work.”

Keith held out a hand, and Shiro smiled gently at it.

“Ah, no offense, but you pulling me up right now isn’t the best idea.”

He hauled himself up, one hand pressed to his side. He just wanted to sit here and die right now, but they had a mission, and at the very least, Keith’s path seemed to be better when Shiro was with him.

“You need any help?”

“I’ll be fine, Keith. You’re like a worried mother hen.”

“Well, _excuse me_ if I’m worried about you because you’ve got a _glowing alien wound_ in your side.”

“Alright, I know, I know. Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood.”

They both hobbled on, until suddenly Shiro’s wound glowed a fiercer purple, and he dropped to his knees.

“Shiro! Shiro!”

Keith held his friend by the shoulders, eyes desperate.

“Keith. Keith, I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a while. Keith, I might not be around forever.”

“Shiro, you’re going to be fine, don’t talk like that!”

“Keith. If I don’t make it out of here, I want you to lead Voltron.”

The forest around them got darker, thorns creeping back onto the path.

“Don’t say that! We’re going to get out of here! Both of us!”

“Keith, we both know-”

“No!” Keith stood up, wincing. “Come on! Get up, Shiro, you _have_ to make it!”

Shiro’s breathing was labored now, his eyes beginning to close. Keith, ignoring his ankle, hauled Shiro up, slinging one arm over his shoulders.

“Come on! We’re going to make it!”

\----------------

Tlatoani frowned down into the forest. “I think…” She darted forward. “Shiro! Keith! Hunk, Lance, Pidge, help!”

The other paladins rushed forward as Keith stumbled out of the woods, half-carrying a barely-conscious Shiro. Hunk and Lance lifted Shiro off of Keith, while Tlatoani and Pidge lent themselves as crutches to Keith, whose ankle was swelling up to an _incredibly_ unhealthy size, even with the pressure Shiro had put on it.

“What happened?!”

“Something attacked Shiro on his path,” Keith panted, “I sprained my ankle fighting Lotor. The usual.”

“Guys, Shiro needs medical help! We have to get him to the Castle!”

Tlatoani shook her head. “There’s no way to contact it. We have to keep going, I think I know how to fix him.”

“Wait.” Lance frowned suspiciously at Tlatoani. “Where are the Adawahi? You said the paths would bring us to the missing villagers!”

“No,” Tlatoani corrected, “I said that the path would bring you where you needed to be. It brought you to each other, and ultimately it brought you to this place. If we keep going, I think there’s a possibility of healing Shiro.” She sighed. “Let’s get this over with.”

Tlatoani led the paladins through a dangling bunch of vines to a clearing with a large tree in the middle. The tree was covered with dead patches, and was overrun by fungi. Overall, it didn’t even look alive.

“Is that… the Tyesha?”

“No, Lance. It is her home, though. Each of you, put a hand on the tree.”

“Why? Are you going to?”

“I shouldn’t need to. I’ve done it before. Hopefully… well, good can outweigh bad.”

Each of the paladins put their hand on the tree, Hunk holding Shiro’s to the tree. Nothing happened.

“Of course,” Tlatoani grumbled, “Of course you do. Alright, then.”

She joined them, with her hand on the trunk of the great tree. There was a humming noise, and the fungi and rotting spots dropped away from the tree, the limbs straightening and blooming.

A beautiful woman melted out of the tree.

“Ah, hello, dear.”

“Hello, Mother.” Tlatoani didn’t sound too thrilled.

“Oh, they’re injured!”

The woman waved a hand, and both Shiro and Keith passed out. She waved off the other paladins’ cries of alarm.

“It’s just for a small amount of time. See, the twitchy angry one is already almost done.”

Keith’s ankle seemed to have shrunk back to its normal size, and all the cuts turned to scabs, which turned into scars, which disappeared. He opened his eyes like nothing had happened.

“What just…”

The woman smiled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Tyesha, the great connection in the universe. Tlatoani is my daughter.”

Keith turned on Tlatoani. “I thought you were half-Galra!”

“I am,” she soothed, “when things get really bad in the universe, Tyesha goes to the village to make sure she’s not just picking up bad vibes from them. As luck would have it, that was the day the village was first attacked by the Galra. I was the result. And, thanks to her genes, I age incredibly slowly, have mystic connections, yada, yada, yada.”

“Why isn’t Shiro waking up?! What did you do to him?!”

“Relax. His wound will take longer to heal; his body has never sustained an injury like that before and is struggling to heal. Also, he has something in his mind. Suppressed memories, complications in his mind, mostly from the Galra. He’ll be alright, but his mind will take longer to heal.”

“How long?”

“I can’t say.”

“What?!”

“You’re going to have to deal without him for a bit.” Tyesha took in a deep breath, smiling. “Thank you. I had begun to think that the universe was rotten through, but you showed me that there was still good in it. All of you.”

Tlatoani watched proudly as her mother took each of the paladins aside, speaking softly to each one. An obvious change came over each of them. Lance looked like a huge burden had been taken off of his shoulders, and he smiled hopefully. Tlatoani had no doubt that there would be more sunshine on his path from now on. Hunk looked serious for a moment, but smiled and nodded. Pidge’s eyes filled with tears and she flung herself forward to hug Tyesha. Tyesha looked surprised for a moment, but then relaxed and hugged her back.

Keith was spoken to the longest, and it looked like a very serious conversation. The tension was so thick Tlatoani could’ve cut it with Keith’s bayard. There was much nodding on Keith’s part, and he didn’t look too happy when they parted.

Tlatoani finished saying her goodbyes to the other paladins and approached him.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded distractedly. “Yeah, of course. The missing villagers are right nearby; we’ve got to…”

She hugged him. “I know. Take care out there.”

He stiffened initially, but slowly relaxed. “You’re much too close and personal, you know.”

“I almost never get to have physical contact, can you blame me?”

“How will you tell us when Shiro is better?”

“I told you that you five were closely intertwined, didn’t I? I’ll reach you. Just trust me.”

“Trusting people…”

“Isn’t really your thing, I know. But just make an exception, okay?”

Keith nodded. “Okay.”

“And Keith?”

He cocked his head at her.

“You’re eighteen. Don’t worry if you mess up, and take a break every once and a while. It’s okay.”

“Okay. Done now?”

“I think so. Don’t worry. We’ll take good care of Shiro. Just trust in us. Trust in yourself.”

“I thought you were done.”

“Alright, alright.” She hugged him one more time and then shoved him towards the other paladins. “Go save the universe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What Tyesha told them will be revealed over time, I promise.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We can get along without a leader, right? ... Right? Basically a setup chapter for "everything goes wrong again because I can't give these guys a break."

Keith sat on the bridge while Allura and Coran bustled around him, defending the Castle. Red hadn’t been working right ever since Haggar had hit her with that lightning, and Keith had to sit out the battles while Coran and Allura tried to fix her.

Keith’s leg bounced up and down. He really hated this. He really, _really_ hated sitting still while there was a battle going on. It felt so wrong, but Allura and Coran had forbidden him from touching the controls of the Castle, so he couldn’t even provide artillery support.

Allura reached out and pinned his leg to the ground.

“Please, Keith, you’re distracting me.”

He frowned, but kept his leg still. His finger restlessly tapped out a drum cadence he’d heard, back on Earth with his dad.

“Keith.”

“Sorry.”

“Hunk! Watch your nine!”

“Where’d all these fighters come from?!”

“Guys, I need help.”

Keith’s blood rushed through his head. They were in danger. They needed backup. There weren’t enough lions.

“Fall back! Pidge, Hunk, Lance, come back, we need to get out of here!”

“I can’t! There’s too many!”

He had to help, he had to get out there, but he couldn’t, they only had three working lions.

Well. No. They had four lions.

The sane, rational part of him said that flying the black lion wasn’t going to happen. It was _Shiro’s_ lion, not his lion.

But then again, Shiro had told him he wanted him to lead Voltron if anything happened to him.

That was crazy. He couldn’t lead. He didn’t know how! Shiro had only told him that because he was the only other person around and had been delirious from pain. He wasn’t a leader. He was a loner.

Pidge let out a cry over the coms, and all of Keith’s common sense fled his mind. It didn’t matter if he was a good leader or not, he had to do whatever he could, because that was his _team_ out there, and if he didn’t help, they were going to get hurt. He walked to Shiro’s chair, towards the elevator that led to the black lion.

“Keith, what are you _doing_?!”

“Whatever I can.”

\----------------

“Please,” Keith murmured to the black lion’s unresponsive controls, “I know I’m not Shiro, but they’re in danger. They need help, and I’m the only one who can give it to them. Shiro’s not here right now, I just need your help until he’s back. _Please_.”

The controls lit up and a growl echoed through the cockpit. Keith smiled darkly.

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

\-------------------

The Galra weren’t expecting the black lion to charge out of nowhere and wreck everything. The battle was over in minutes, and the paladins were back on the Castle.

“Keith, what the heck was that?! You _flew_ the _black lion_! _Shiro’s_ lion! What’s going on?!”

Keith hunched his shoulders, trying to make himself as small as possible. “I don’t… I think it was just a mutual agreement. The lion knew you guys were in danger, and it let me ride him to-”

“Wait, wait, wait a minute. You just said _him_. How deep is this connection,” Lance demanded, “Is the black lion choosing you?”

“No! No, it’s probably just a one-time thing! I’m not… look, I don’t want to fly the black lion! I just- It’s not a thing, I just- rrgh!”

He stormed off of the bridge, the automatic door slamming behind him.

“Where’s he going?”

“Probably the training deck,” Allura piped up, “That’s where he spends most of his time.”

“Oh, wow, really? How do you know that?”

Allura raised an eyebrow. “You’re telling me you didn’t know where one of your fellow paladins spends most of his time? What if you needed him for something, or if the coms broke down and we needed you to get each of the paladins?”

Lance stared at the floor, embarrassed. “I just never thought about it much.”

“You three should probably go talk to him. It’s been two weeks since you had to leave Shiro on that planet; his absence is probably bothering Keith. You’re a team: start acting like it.”

\--------------------

Keith sliced at a robot, blocking its strikes and countering.

_If I don’t make it out of here, I want you to lead Voltron._

Keith shook his head and kept fighting. This couldn’t be happening. If the black lion was letting him fly, it-he-whatever might have given Shiro up as a lost cause. It wasn’t fair. Shiro wasn’t _dead_ , he was healing, and this wasn’t right.

His vision flickered out and he could see the forest, and Shiro, waking up, Tyesha smiling.

The robot he was fighting slammed its staff into his ribs, sending him flying across the training deck and snapping him out of whatever illusion he was in.

“End training sequence,” he panted as the door hissed open. Whoo, boy. He was having hallucinations now. Great. That was probably his body telling him he needed to get some rest, but he wasn’t going to go take a nap. Not now.

“Hey? Keith?”

“What?”

All three of the other paladins filed into the room.

“Um. Well. You know, about the whole black lion thing-”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Pidge stepped forward and put a hand on his arm. “We just want you to know, you don’t have to do anything to prove anything. We all miss Shiro, and I know you probably miss him the most. It’s okay that the black lion let you fly it, our lives were in danger. We’re just going to wait this out. We’ll get Shiro back soon. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Besides.” She grinned. “Who needs a leader anyway? We can get through without someone bossing us around.”

\-----------------

The green lion plummeted towards a planet, an ion blast having hit it a few moments ago.

“Pidge! Allura, I’m getting into a pod.”

“Why not the black lion?”

“I need something small. I don’t want to attract attention.” Keith headed to the pod bay, putting his helmet in to listen to the feed.

“Hunk! Lance!” Allura sounded truly angry. “What are you doing?! Get in formation!”

“Sorry! It’s just… I don’t know what’s going on anymore! We need a leader!”

“Allura, give Hunk and Lance directions! Guys, cover me, I’m going after Pidge.” Keith hopped into a pod, blasting out towards the falling shape of the green lion. He had to make it, had to reach her.

When he got close enough to the lion, he turned his mask on and made a jump for it, using his jetpack to reach the airlock and slide into the cockpit.

Pidge was unconscious, slumped over the dashboard. Keith desperately pressed on the levers and buttons, but nothing happened. The lion was completely dead.

“Allura, we’re going down!”

“Hunk and Lance are down; they were caught in a full ion cannon blast. I’m trying to get them into cryo pods. I’ll get there as fast as I can, just hold on.”

“Ten seconds to impact!”

“Keith! Pidge! Hold on, I’m coming!”

Keith tried the controls and then squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the impact.

\----------------

When Keith opened his eyes, he was in an entirely black area. His head whipped from side to side. Where was he?

There was a little _pop_ , and Lance appeared next to him.

“What?” He pointed to Keith. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same.”

“I was… I don’t know, somewhere, not wherever this is.”

“It think we’re both in cryo sleep. You and Hunk got hit head on with an ion cannon’s blast, and Pidge and I crashed into a planet at some pretty high speeds in a dead lion.”

As if talking about them summoned them, Pidge and Hunk faded into being.

“Is this some kind of mass hallucination?”

Before Keith could answer, the area around them changed to Tyesha’s home. Tlatoani was standing there, crossing her arms.

“ _Finally._ I’ve been trying to get your attention for _days._ Do you people _ever_ sleep?!”

“I thought I saw…”

“Tyesha with Shiro? Yes, you did! That was my point of view, sent to you via the link you have with Shiro! Why didn’t you listen?!”

“I thought I was hallucinating!”

“Alright. Well. Shiro’s awake. He’s a little confused, and I don’t think some of his memories are pleasant, but he’s ready to go back. How’s it been without him?”

The paladins looked at the ground.

“Not great,” Lance admitted, “We need a leader.”

Tlatoani raised a single eyebrow at Keith, who gave a slight shake of his head. He wasn’t ready to lead; he didn’t think he ever would be.

“Alright. Well, one black paladin, coming up! Just fly down here fast, okay? I have this really weird feeling that something is going to go wrong.”

\---------------

Keith fell out of the cryo pod, barely catching the edge to keep from falling on his face. Lance wasn’t so lucky and had to settle for not breaking his nose on the floor.

“Sorry,” Allura called. Hunk was leaning on her as she guided him to a chair. Nearby, Coran was helping Pidge. “Hunk and Pidge came out first.”

Lance squinted up at Keith. “Did we just all have the same dream, or is dream you just very informed of what happens in the real world?”

“Allura, it’s time to get Shiro.”

\---------------

“Does this seem… wrong to anyone else?”

Lance shivered and looked at the forest around them.

“It looks like it’s… dying.”

Allura frowned. “Wasn’t it already?”

“No, it was dark, but the trees were healthy. Now everything is rotting.”

Three paths shimmered into existence, their appearance wavering like a mirage.

Keith put his hand gently on one of the dark trees on his path, ignoring the poison ivy.

“What happened to you?”

As if in response, all of the paths disappeared, revealing a different path, one that looked like your average hiking trail.

“You’re _kidding_ me,” Lance griped, “There was a maintenance path we could’ve been taking this _whole time_?”

Pidge eyed the trees. “This whole forest is sick. This isn’t right. Do you think something could’ve happened to Tyesha?”

“If something is wrong with Tyesha,” Hunk asked softly, “then what’s going to happen to Shiro?”

\-------------------

The paladins came off of the path into Tyesha’s grove. Trees everywhere had laser marks, and Tyesha was covered in scratches and burns. Next to her was Tlatoani, who was completely unconscious, a laser wound in her chest slowly healing as Tyesha moved a glowing hand over her.

“What happened?! Where’s Shiro?!”

“Hold on a minute.” Tyesha’s face was twisted in concentration, her eyes drooping shut. “Can’t talk. Concentrating.”

She stepped back with a sigh and dissolved into light as Tlatoani opened her eyes.

“You’re here! I wish… never mind.”

“What happened?!”

“Where’s my… oh. Are you hiding from consequences again, Mom?”

A muffled voice echoed from Tyesha’s tree. “Healing you from mostly dead takes a lot of energy. I probably burned out a star or something. I need to rest.”

Tlatoani sighed. “Alright, then. About an vargas or so after I contacted you, the Galra attacked. We barely held them off. It was mostly Shiro, and we lost track of where he was. When the Galra retreated… he was gone. He wasn’t in the forest anywhere. A surprise ambush is where I got injured.”

“You _lost_ him?!”

“We might be able to find him. I told you, you five have a strong connection to him. I think I can trace him through you. Alright. Everybody get in a circle. Hold hands.”

“Are we going to start singing Kumbayah,” Lance commented.

Pidge whacked his arm. “Shh.”

Tlatoani took a space in between Keith and Pidge, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, all of the paladins were thrown into a different universe. Everything was connected to everything else with strands of glowing energy. Every tree, and the threads all led to Tyesha’s tree.

When Tlatoani had said that their threads were closely intertwined, she hadn’t been kidding. There was a massive hunk of swirling energies in the center of their circle, tangled up in a ridiculously hopeless knot. There were other threads jutting off of them too, spiraling in all directions, some going to Tyesha’s tree, others going off into the beyond.

 _Shiro._ Tlatoani’s voice reverberated along the threads. _Takeshi Shirogane, where are you?_ When she said his full name, a shiver shook all of the threads, reverberating into space. One thread coming from Tyesha’s tree shivered, but then stopped abruptly.

Tlatoani let out a sigh, and collapsed backwards. Keith caught her, gently lowering her to the ground.

“Hey. Hey, wake up. What happened? Did you find him?”

Tlatoani’s eyes fluttered open, and she weakly grasped Keith’s hand.

“It’s gone. I can’t find it. His thread. I don’t think I’m powerful enough.” She struggled to her feet. Leaning on Keith for support, she made her way to Tyesha’s tree.

“Mother. I know your energy is spent, and I know the bad of the universe makes it hard for you to remain good, but please. I can’t do this alone.”

A deep sigh emanated from the tree. “I can’t, child. You saw how his line fell flat. His connection has been broken.”

“You mean he’s… dead?”

“No, not dead. If he were dead, his line would just spread to everyone who knew him, everyone who remembers him. This is… different. That _witch’s_ fault, no doubt.” The way she said _witch_ made it quite clear that she’d had a different word in mind. “She’s messing with things she doesn’t understand.”

Keith cocked his head to one side. “But… what about Shiro?”

“I’m sorry, child. He’s gone, for now. Shiro’s missing.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I forgot that I needed one more setup chapter. This is basically a watered down version of the first few s3 episodes crammed into one chapter, so if you watched s3, you can skip it if you want. In fact, I probably would.

“Keith.”

“Go away.”

“Keith, we need to talk.”

“Allura, there’s nothing to talk about.”

“Keith, it’s been two weeks since Shiro went missing, and, well, I hate to say it, but it doesn’t look like we’re going to find him anytime soon. We need to figure out-”

“Who’s going to fly the black lion. I know. How’s Red?”

“She _should_ be fully operational.”

“But…”

Allura sighed. “I don’t know why she’s not responding to you, Keith. Please. Stop trying to dodge the subject. Come with me.”

Keith sighed. “Fine.”

\-----------------

“Paladins. We need to find a new paladin for the black lion. We cannot survive forever without Voltron. We’ve been lucky enough to have been able to fight off attacks with only three lions, but our luck won’t hold out forever. I know that we would all prefer for Shiro to be here, but he’s not, and we all have to accept that.”

“Well, who should be the leader, then? I think I should be.”

“Of _course_ you do, Lance. But honestly, I think I would be the best leader.”

Lance snorted. “C’mon, Pidge. Can you even see over the dashboard?”

“Wait, if we’re all calling things, I want to be the head. I’d make a _great_ leader!”

“Well. Technically speaking, Keith actually piloted the lion before when your lives were in danger, so he’s a good canidate.”

“What?! I don’t want to lead!”

“Coran _is_ right,” Allura put in, “Keith _did_ fly the black lion.”

Lance squinted suspiciously at him. “Are you trying to take control?”

“What?!”

“Keith can’t be the leader,” Pidge put in, “He’s the lone wolf of the group!”

“ _Thank_ you! I don’t want to be the leader! That’s just what Shiro wanted!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Keith wished he could take them back. He hadn’t ever told anyone about that conversation in the woods, and he hadn’t wanted to. Everybody started talking at once.

“Wait, Shiro said-”

“How come you never told us-”

“There is no way-”

“When did-”

“Paladins! I think we’re all missing the point.”

Everybody looked to Allura, their eyes brimming with uncertainty.

“It does not matter what any of you want, or even what Shiro wants. The question is not who _we_ think the leader should be; it’s who the _black lion_ wants to be its paladin.”

\-------------------

Lance slouched out of the black lion, grumpiness written all over his face. He’d been the last person, other than Keith, to try the black lion, and he, like everyone else, had failed to get a response.

“Keith…”

Keith shrugged Allura’s hand off of his shoulder. She backed up and looked to Coran, who looked to Pidge, who looked to Hunk who looked to Lance. Lance looked to the side, like he was hoping someone would be there to take the responsibility from him, but then sighed and walked up to Keith, who was staring pensively at the black lion.

“Hey, man. This sucks, I know. But you have to try.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Look, remember when Hunk and I first met you? And you were really scared and pretty much lived in a constant state of panic that Lotor was going to get you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, since then, you’ve changed. We’ve all changed since we all ended up together by fate. We’re not the same people who fled Lotor’s command ship after failing to kill him and nearly got blasted out of the sky in a stolen Galra pod.”

“Yeah. Now we do it in robot lions.”

“Anyway, the point is, we’ve gotten older, and sometimes, well, sometimes we’ve got to step up and take responsibilities we don’t want. Sometimes we have to fill other people’s shoes, and it really sucks, but whatever happens, I just want you to know, I’ll support you. We all will.”

Keith sucked in a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll try.”

            Keith approached the lion, his nerve almost failing him. What if the lion let him fly it? He wasn’t Shiro, he wasn’t a leader. He couldn’t keep them all safe, he couldn’t…

He looked back to his teammates. They were serious, but also supportive. He could count on them. He could rely on their help.

Keith climbed into the cockpit of the black lion and put his hands on the controls. He _really_ hoped that the lion wouldn’t respond, although he felt guilty for thinking that. The control panel in front of him lit up.

“Please,” he murmured, “Please, no.”

\-----------

Lance and the other paladins all jumped as the black lion got up behind them, roaring. A few moments later, Keith emerged, looking down at the ground.

“I-”

“You did it,” Allura said softly, “I knew you could.”

\--------------

“The Galra! They’re here! Get to your lions!”

The black, green and yellow lions emerged from the Castle, but the blue lion didn’t appear.

“Lance! Where are you?!”

xxx

Lance eyed his lion. The particle barrier was up, and the blue lion wasn’t letting him in.

“Uh, be with you guys in a sec.”

“Lance, get out here! We need you, _right now_.”

“Uh, well, my lion… um, Blue’s not letting me in.”

“What?!”

“The particle barrier is up! I don’t know what’s going on!”

xxx

Up in the bridge, Allura sighed. Not right now, why did this have to happen right now?! Why couldn’t anything ever happen nicely for once in their miserable lives?

“Hold on, Lance. I’m coming.”

Xxx

“Allura, what’s going on? She’s not listening to me!”

“I don’t…”

A growl emanated from deep within the castle.

“The red lion! Of course! Lance, the red lion is calling you!”

“Yeah, it’s probably calling me to _bite my head off_!”

“No, Lance listen, the red lion forms the right arm of Voltron.”

“So?”

“So, the red paladin is the one who supports the head the most. The right-hand-man, so to speak. When you spoke to Keith, when you let him know that you were behind him, you earned the trust and respect of the red lion. It’s not all about instinct, it’s also about support. They _need_ you out there. Go to your lion.”

Lance nodded. “Alright.” He walked out of the hangar, his heart breaking into a million pieces as he left the blue lion behind.

Xxx

“This is Lance, I’m ready to go.”

“Wait, are you in the…”

“Red lion, yes. Apparently, she likes me enough not to eat me.”

Xxx

Allura turned to leave the blue lion’s hangar, sure her work was done, when she heard a growl. She turned around, her eyes lighting up as the particle barrier around the blue lion shut down. She could feel, deep down in her heart, that she was home.

Xxx

Keith grunted as a blast hit the black lion. He was _not_ used to how much bigger and slower this lion was. He didn’t like it, at all.

“I need backup!”

“I’ve got you, Keith!”

“Allura?”

“Present and ready for battle. How about we show these Galra the wonders of space, firsthand?”

Keith smiled. “You got it. Voltron is back in business.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, that was boring. I'm going to get back to my storyline now, thanks.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is a bad leader x10. By the way, I'm considering killing Keith at the end of this fan fiction. Vote yea or nay in the comments.

Keith jumped up from his bed as the alarm blared through the Castle. He raced to the bridge, Lance, Hunk and Pidge joining him on the way.

 _This is not a drill,_ Coran’s voice echoed from the ceiling, _We are under attack! Paladins, get to your lions!_

Keith still wasn’t used to this. How he was in the chair, how all of the surroundings were no longer red. It was all foreign, yet a tingling sensation of familiarity danced in the back of his head. This was his place now. This was where he _had_ to belong.

\---------------

“Keith! I’ve received a distress signal from the ice planet down below! The Galra are attacking it!”

“What do you want to do?”

Keith squeezed his eyes shut. He hated that he had to make the decisions now. He wanted to help whoever was down there, but he couldn’t leave the team up here without someone to lead them.

“Lance. You go down there and help the people. The red lion’s heat should keep you warm if your armor doesn’t. We’ll stay up here and fight off the fleet to keep them from sending backup.”

“On it.” The red lion veered out of formation, shooting to the planet below.

“Pidge, Hunk, Allura, uh…”

“Plan?”

“Stop the fleet from sending reinforcements.”

“You know, an actual plan would be nice!”

“Just shoot them and watch each other’s backs, okay?”

Keith sighed, pulling the black lion into position. He had _no idea_ how Shiro had handled this for that long.

\---------------

Lance dropped to the surface of the planet, landing the red lion on an outcropping of ice. Where had that distress signal come from?

A high-pitched whine pierced his ears, and everything in the lion unexpectedly shut down. Lance shivered as it suddenly got thirty degrees colder, the lion getting chillier by the second. EMP, he guessed. Electromagnetic pulses that shut down machinery. This had been a trap. Of course it had been. _Apparently_ , they should either start ignoring distress calls or start bringing all of the lions.

“I really hate this,” he grumbled as he edged out of the seat, “It’s like the universe _wants_ me to be a cold unfeeling person.”

He shivered, rubbing his arms to get some feeling back into them. “Of course, if I don’t get out of here or warm up, I _will_ be cold and unfeeling. _Really_ cold and unfeeling.”

He tried to activate his bayard, and then remembered with a curse that it was also machinery, and wasn’t going to work. Well. He could always smack someone over the head with it.

Lance slowly approached the mouth of the lion, eyeing the blizzard outside. He didn’t like the odds of possible Galra hiding out there. There was no visibility, and if they just hovered outside of the EMP range, they could pick him off, easy. But he couldn’t stay in the lion; he needed to shut down those EMP devices if he was going to survive this.

Lance edged slowly out of the lion and then the back of his neck tingled. He jumped to the side as a sword stabbed down, but he wasn’t fast enough and the sword went right through his foot and into the snow. He screamed.

“Well, well, well. This _is_ a surprise.” Lotor practically _melted_ out of the snow, dressed in an entirely white suit. “Here I was, thinking that it was my lucky day and that I was going to get to slice off the head of that little traitor. And then _you_ come waltzing out of the sky, in the red lion, no less.”

“Have-haven’t you heard,” Lance asked through gritted teeth, “There’s a new Voltron in town!”

He swung his fist at Lotor’s face, his bayard, though deactivated, making his punch a _lot_ harder. Lotor let go of the sword, stumbling backwards, and Lance yanked it out of his foot, howling in agony before making a stab at Lotor. The Galra prince easily dodged, but was distracted long enough for Lance to disappear into the snow. He _had_ to find those EMP devices.

\------------

“Keith, have you heard from Lance? He hasn’t contacted us since he entered the planet’s atmosphere, and I’m worried that something might have happened to him.”

Keith cursed silently to himself as he realized that Allura was right; he hadn’t heard from the blue- the red paladin.

“Lance. Come in, Lance. What’s your status?”

There was nothing but cackling on the other side of his com. Great.

“Pidge, come with me. Something’s wrong down there, and Lance is potentially in a life-threatening position. Allura, Hunk, you cover us. If you can win up here but don’t hear back from us, Hunk, don’t land, just fly around and see what you can spot, and Allura, go the Castle and get a cryo pod ready. And also some hot water or something; that planet is _definitely_ cold enough to give us frostbite.”

“Copy that.”

\--------------

They were halfway down to the planet’s surface when it happened. The lions just stopped working, and Keith’s com went dead. Luckily, he’d activated his bayard before everything turned off, but that was a small comfort as both the black and green lions tumbled through the air, crashing on the surface below.

“Ow.”

Keith extracted himself from his seat with a groan and stumbled disorientedly towards the door. He cussed out in about three different alien languages when the cold hit him. Normally his armor would’ve kept his body temperature correct, but whatever had happened to his lion was also affecting his armor.

A green and white figure made its way towards him

“You okay?” Pidge had to shout in order to be heard over the wind.

“Yeah, just a little bruised,” he shouted back, “You?”

“Fine. Can you see anything?”

“We missed the red lion by about a mile, but Lance came this way, I think. And he’s injured.”

“How on earth would you know that?!”

Keith pointed to a trail of blood on the ground. “It’s red. Galra don’t have red blood, so, as far as I know, that’s human blood. We better find him soon. The cold will probably stop the blood flow a bit, assuming he doesn’t get frostbite and lose the whole foot.”

“You’re just an ever-cheerful guy, aren’t you?”

Keith squinted off in the direction of the blood trail. He could’ve sworn he’d seen… He pulled a pair of binoculars out of his belt pocket.

“Keith, those won’t work.”

“These binoculars are the original kind, Pidge. Mirrors and glass.”

“Where on earth did you get something that old?!”

“Before the Galra took over, my dad collected stuff like this. Now sh.” He squinted through the lenses at the faraway figure. “Oh, that’s bad.”

“What?!”

“Lotor. He’s on Lance’s trail.”

“You’re sure it’s him?”

“Positive. We’ve _got_ to catch up to them.”

“Should we really be leaving the lions alone?”

“We don’t have a choice.”

xxx

They were getting close when the first sentry popped out of the snow. And then about twenty more, and a living Galra with a sword.

“Wait, how come their machinery gets to work?”

“Not the time, Pidge!”

“Right, right.”

Keith sorely wished he had his shield, but he dodged the bullets to the extent of his ability. The sentries disappeared quickly under his sword, and he kept going after Lotor. They were so close!

“Keith, help!”

Keith pivoted to see Pidge, desperately trying to ward off the sword of the Galra commander with her deactivated bayard. He glanced back at Lotor, and at the direction Lance was headed. He was going to get away…

This was the kind of decision Keith had dreaded, the kind of decision he had nightmares about. Should he go after Lance, and leave Pidge with an enemy ten times her size, or help Pidge and risk losing Lance while Lotor was hot on his trail?

Pidge screamed as she failed to defend a blow and it cut off three of her fingers. The Galra raised his arm for the kill.

Keith howled in anger and threw his sword. It flew straight, like a spear, striking the Galra right in the heart. He stared at it, blinking, before collapsing. Keith cast one last look towards Lotor and Lance before turning back and running to Pidge.

“Pidge! Pidge, what…”

“Keith. Keith, he cut off my fingers, _he cut off my fingers_!”

“Hold on, it’ll be okay, we need to get back to the lions, Allura packed a first-aid kit, just hold on!”

“Keith, I can’t- he cut off my fingers!”

“I know, I know, come on, Pidge, you have to get up!”

“I- I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. You _have_ to! You’re a fighter, Pidge, you’re a paladin, come on!”

Pidge hesitated before taking Keith’s proffered hand. “Pick up my fingers.”

“What?!”

Pidge glared at him. “We’re going to have to repair my armor, _idiot._ I’m going to need the fingers.”

“Oh. Right.” Fighting revulsion, Keith picked up Pidge’s severed fingers- he fought back a wave of nausea- and put them in his belt pouch. He looked back in the direction they’d come from. It was going to be a _long_ way back to the lions.

\-------------

Pidge stumbled and fell into the snow. Her hand had stopped bleeding, but Keith was worried about frostbite. “Keith, Keith I can’t keep going.”

“Come on, Pidge! You _have_ to! We’re almost there!”

“No, I can’t! Just… go find Lance. Leave me here. I’m going to go to sleep.”

“You can’t sleep, you’ll never wake up! Pidge? Pidge!”

Keith shook the unresponsive green paladin. No. No, no, no, no, no. This couldn’t be happening! He couldn’t let this happen!

“Pidge, wake up!”

She didn’t respond. A tear of frustration rolled down Keith’s cheek, freezing onto his skin. Why was the happening?! Why couldn’t get anything right?!

“I’m not giving up on you!”

Keith picked Pidge up, cradling her in his arms.

“We’re going to get you to the lions! You’re gonna be okay, Pidge, you hear me? You’re going to be fine!”

He looked into the distance. The lions were only a mile away. He could do this.

\---------------

Keith stumbled into the black lion, gasping and panting. He set Pidge down on the floor, shivering violently. The fact that Pidge _wasn’t_ shivering bothered him. Her lips were blue, and he desperately pulled off her armor, feeling her neck for a pulse.

A faint heartbeat pulsed under his fingers, and he sat back with a sigh of relief. She was going to be okay. He looked around sluggishly. Where had he put that- maybe he should just follow Pidge’s lead and go to sleep- no, he couldn’t, Lance and Pidge were depending on him! But it was so cold…

Keith opened a hatch in the back of his seat, pulling out the first-aid kit that Allura had stowed there. Most of this was technology, so it wouldn’t help him, but- yes!

He pulled out two thermal blankets. Then his heart fell to the pit of his stomach and died. Pidge was ice cold. She didn’t have any heat for the blankets to retain.

He shivered. He was going to have to warm her up. He took off his armor; it would only make her colder for the metal to touch her skin.

“Come on,” Keith muttered as he sat her up, curling around her, trying to share his body heat as he rubbed her arms. “Come on, don’t die on me!”

Pidge’s skin slowly began to warm up, and he let out a sigh of relief. She was still unconscious, but maybe he could save her. He’d had one of the blankets wrapped around him, and he transferred the now semi-warm blanket to her. It wasn’t as good as an electric blanket, but hopefully it would at least warm her up. Her hand, though frostbitten, looked like it would recover. He wrapped the second blanket around her and then put his armor back on.

Keith traipsed to the green lion, pulling the medical kit out of Pidge’s seat before trekking back to the black lion and wrapping one of the blankets around her. The other, he kept. Lance was probably going to need one of these.

Pidge started to stir, shivering and coughing.

“You’re awake!”

Keith could’ve hugged her, he was so relieved.

“Wha…”

“You collapsed in the snow, and you didn’t get up.”

Pidge blinked owlishly at her surroundings.

“Do you think you can stay warm? I think there might be something to start a fire in the kit, so you should be able to stay warm, sorry, Black, um, she might need to, oh, well he’s deactivated right now. I’m going to go out, Lance is still out there.”

“K-Keith?” Pidge’s teeth were chattering like a windup toy, and she was shivering so violently that she looked like she was in a vibration chair.

“Yeah?”

“S-stay safe.”

He turned and walked out the door, not giving her an answer. He couldn’t make any promises.

\----------------

Lance had lost the feeling in his foot a _long_ time ago, but he trudged on. He _had_ to find that EMP transmitter. Or more than one.

“Going somewhere?”

Lance jumped backwards with a sluggish curse as Lotor popped up in front of him.

“You know, I should just kill you right here. You’re helpless, and the cold is going to finish you off pretty soon anyway. Not to mention that you’ve got frostbite, and are likely going to lose that foot.”

“S-says _you_.”

“But I’m intrigued. If you’re in the red lion, who’s in the blue lion? And where’d 41 go? What caused you to switch lions?”

“L-like you d-don’t know.”

“I assure you, I do not. Where’s 41?”

“D-don’t know any-b-body named F-forty-one.”

Lotor narrowed his eyes. “What happened to the former red paladin?”

“H-he’s the h-head now, so you’d b-better watch out.”

“Interesting. I would’ve heard reports if the black paladin had fallen, so he must still be alive. But you assumed I would’ve known what had happened to him, so he’s not with you. Ergo, you must think I have him. But I don’t. Which means… Haggar is likely holding him out of my reach. I _thought_ she might be staging something behind my back. But what…” He frowned. “Well. It doesn’t matter. You’re coming with me.”

“And w-why would I do that?”

“Because you’re dying and your friends are nowhere near by. Therefore, I am your best option.”

“I-if you get me I’ll d-die anyway. I’ll j-just suffer m-more.”

“I swear on my honor I won’t hurt you. I just want to learn more and use you as a bargaining chip”

“Y-you don’t have any h-honor.”

“Alright, I swear on my throne.”

“I’m n-never going anywhere with y-you!”

Lance kicked a snowbank, sending snow into Lotor’s eyes and scrambled away. He didn’t get far.

“I think you misunderstood me,” Lotor said, a glint in his eye as he held his sword to Lance’s throat, “I’m not giving you a choice.”

\-----------------

“No, no, why!”

Keith kicked the ground. The trail of blood had gotten fainter and fainter and now it was completely gone. He had no way of tracking Lance.

What was he supposed to do?! He was out in the middle of nowhere, with no way to contact anyone or track Lance down. What was he supposed to do?!

“You know, both of our lives would be a _lot_ easier if you cooperated, here.”

Keith’s ears perked up. That was Lotor! And from the sound of it, Lance was with him.

“Ugh. That’s disgusting.”

“S-sorry. Didn’t mean to freak you out with my _f-frostbitten foot_ , which, b-by the w-way is _your_ s-stupid f-fault.”

Lance was there alright.

“I can’t believe you can’t even walk.”

“D-do you _w-want_ me to snap off my f-foot?”

“You’re lying. Your foot won’t snap off.”

“Y-you want to t-test that theory?”

Keith dropped out of sight behind a snowbank, his sluggish and cold mind trying to form a plan. An idea was forming, a brilliantly terrible idea. He just needed a little more time.

\----------------

Keith peered down the hill at his opponent, who was fireman-carrying Lance. Lance had passed out, great. Didn’t Lotor know _anything_ about the cold? Keith scooped some snow into his hands, making a snowball. Here went nothing.

“Oi! Purple-skinned bastard king!” Keith chucked the snowball at Lotor’s head. It stuck to his head, the ice sparkling in his white hair.

Lotor slid Lance off of his shoulder, holding a knife to his throat.

“Don’t try anything, 41. I’ll kill him.”

“You know, your devices might’ve turned off our suits and lions, but I can still beat you!”

“From that distance? What do you think you can do?!”

“I can take you down at _any_ distance!” Come on. Just a little closer.

Lotor edged a couple of steps closer. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

Keith sliced his bayard through a structure of ice. He’d found a frozen lake, and had made a lever out of ice; as soon as he sliced a little bridge table that was over the catapult, a massive chunk of ice landed on the lever, sending a payload of snow flying through the air.

And right onto Lotor’s head. He dropped Lance with a startled yelp as he was suddenly buried in enough snow to trap a mammoth. Keith half-ran, half-slid down the hill, digging through the snow until he found Lance.

“Sorry about that,” he mumbled to the unconscious paladin, “Necessary evil. Let’s get out of here.”

He slung one of Lance’s arms over his shoulder. They just had to make it back to the lions.

\---------------

Pidge tapped her finger restlessly on the floor. She _had_ to do _something_! She couldn’t just sit here until someone found her! Keith was out there, risking his life, and she was sitting safe in this lion, a nice fire in front of her.

But what was she supposed to do? Short of finding and shutting down whatever was turning everything off, she had no way of contacting the other paladins.

Or did she? Tlatoani had said they were all connected, and she’d seen that connection herself. She didn’t think she would be able to contact the other paladins; she didn’t have that skill. But she might be able to reach someone who did.

\-----------------

“Tlatoani, someone’s calling you.”

Tlatoani’s eyes shot open from where she was still trying to track Shiro down. “What?!”

Tyesha shrugged. “Your name is being very loudly called. Not talking about you, actually calling for you. I believe it’s the green paladin.”

Tlatoani grabbed her mother’s hand. “Show me.”

\-------------------

“Tlatoani,” Pidge murmured, “Tyesha. Tlatoani. Tyesha.”

Her eyes were squeezed shut in concentration. This had to work, it _had_ to!

A little image of Tlatoani flickered in front of her eyelids.

“Pidge!”

“Tlatoani, I need your help!”

“What’s wrong?!”

“I can’t contact any of the other paladins. There’s something shutting down my lion. I need you to warn Hunk and tell him to destroy the cause.”

“Got it. Anything else?”

“I don’t know where Keith and Lance are.”

“I’ll see what I can do. How’d you know how to contact me?”

Pidge shrugged. “When you said Shiro’s name, the line shuddered. I figured I could do the same with yours.”

“You’re a smart person, Pidge. If I were the Galra, I’d watch out.”

\----------------

Hunk shot down a Galra ship. They seemed to be retreating. He hadn’t heard form Keith or Pidge, and that was sincerely worrying him.

“Hunk!”

Hunk jumped as a ghostly apparition suddenly popped up in front of his face.

“Ah!”

“Hunk, it’s Tlatoani.”

“What? How?”

“Pidge contacted me. She says that there’s some device that keeps the lions and their armor from working. She wants you to find it from above and destroy it. She says not to land, and not to get too close. Also, she doesn’t know where Lance and Keith are.”

“Allura, do you think you can wrap up here and then get a cryo pod ready?”

“Of course.”

“Alright, then. I’ll see you soon.”

Hunk dove towards the planet below. He only hoped he wasn’t too late.

\----------------------

Keith struggled through the snow. He had no idea where he was, and everything was freezing. A snowstorm had kicked up, and there was zero visibility. His hands, feet and nose had gone numb a while ago, but he still struggled on.

“We’ll make it,” he panted to Lance, “We’re going to make it. We just… have… to find… the lions…”

He stumbled and fell in the snow. The snow was soft, he could just go to sleep here, rest, conserve energy-

No! He forced himself up. He couldn’t sleep, no matter how much he wanted to. If he stopped, if he let his guard down and fell asleep, he’d never wake up, he’d freeze out here. There were too many people out there who were depending on him.

But wouldn’t they be better off without him? After all, _he’d_ been the one to send Lance alone. It had been _his_ bone-headed decision to then travel down with Pidge, which had resulted in her getting her fingers chopped off. And if he hadn’t been so indecisive when Pidge had been fighting that Galra, he would’ve been able to keep her from getting injured; it wouldn’t’ve taken long to catch up to Lance if he hadn’t had to take Pidge back to the lions.

This was his fault, all of it. He was a _terrible_ leader. He was just one massive screw-up. He couldn’t lead; he didn’t know what had ever possessed him to get in that stupid lion.

But Lance didn’t deserve to die because of Keith’s mistakes. Lance didn’t deserve any of that. Lance had been a good red paladin; he’d grown to fit those shoes; Keith was the one who’d failed.

He struggled on, making it a few more feet before falling down again. This time, he didn’t get up.

\------------------

Somewhere, vaguely, Lance could hear people shouting. He could hear the growl of a lion, and someone was picking him up out of the snow. When he tried to open his eyes, and barely managed to crack them open, he could see Keith’s red armor out of the corner of his eye, being carried by Coran.

He could hear more shouting, and, oh, it was warm now, that was good, he liked being warm, being this cold sucked.

“-Can’t put him is cryo stasis-”

“-will make his frostbite worse-”

“-Warm water, come on, coming through-”

Lance was gently lowered into a warm bath and- oh, it hurt, but it also felt wonderful, it was boiling him alive, but was thawing him out. He wanted it to stop, but at the same time needed it like he needed life.

And then someone was pointing to his foot, and everybody was whispering and running around. Something grasped his hand.

“Lance.” That was Allura’s voice!” “Lance, I’m so sorry, your foot- we can’t- we’re going to have to amputate. I’m so, so, sorry. This is going to hurt, I won’t lie. I’m sorry, Lance.”

Something wet dripped onto his face, and he realized sleepily that it was Allura’s tears. He wanted to tell her it would be okay, that she didn’t need to cry, but the words wouldn’t come to him. He couldn’t manage them properly, no matter how hard he tried.

“-kay, ’llura.”

She squeezed his hand. “Thank you,” she murmured, “Thank you for being brave, Lance.”

It did, it did hurt, even though Coran was obviously trying his hardest to keep it from causing him pain. He still screamed, still cried, he screamed so hard he went hoarse, and then he was slipped into a cryo pod, and thankfully the cold was soothing, thankfully the cold didn’t hurt.

\--------------

“Keith! Lance! Hunk, I found them, Coran, get some hot water, get blankets, it’s going to be a rough one.”

Keith stared unfocusedly at Pidge, who was now kneeling in the snow near his head.

“C’mon, Keith, don’t die, please don’t die!”

“Y-you woke me up.”

“You fell asleep?! It’s a good thing I found you. You’re going to be okay, actually, you’ve probably got hypothermia, but forget about that, you’re going to be fine. Hunk’s coming with is lion and I’m rambling now, aren’t I? Oh, well, you know, you can’t just leave me alone like that, okay? I was scared and then you _never came back_ and I was terrified that you were dead and then- Hey! Don’t fall asleep! Wake up!”

Pidge slapped him, and he opened his eyes blearily.

“G-go b-bother L-Lance.”

“I wish I could. I-” she bit her lip. “I don’t know if he’s going to make it.

“No! He had to make it! All my fault-” Keith tried to sit up, but his body wasn’t responding, it was too cold and weak.

He heard a growl, and could see the yellow lion landing nearby. Hunk ran out, as well as Coran. Hunk made a beeline for Lance, and before Keith could protest, Coran picked him up like he weighed as much as a kitten, taking him into the yellow lion. Keith quickly fell asleep, his sluggish mind sinking into blackness

Xxx

Coran set Keith down in a tub of warm water, and Keith let out a sigh as the warm water seeped into his skin.

“You’ve got some pretty bad frostbite on your hands and feet, but nothing a little warm water won’t fix. You’ll be right as rain in a few days.”

“Coran, come here, Lance’s foot-”

Everybody started whispering, and Pidge glanced over at Keith occasionally as if to make sure he couldn’t hear them. He tried to push himself up. He wanted to know what was wrong, he wanted to help, but Allura ushered him to another room, wrapping him up in blankets and assuring him everything would be okay.

“-’llura, what’s going on-”

Allura pushed down firmly on his shoulders. Was she… crying?

“Everything is going to be alright, we’ll handle this. Just… stay in here, alright? You’re weak, and you don’t need to see… just stay in here.”

Moments later, a scream rang out, and Keith sat bolt upright. That was Lance! What was going on?!

He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring how his legs were trembling, and made for the door. Pidge blocked his way.

“Pidge-”

“Keith, you can’t go in there.”

“Pidge-” he tried to move her out of the way, but was surprised by the fact that she was stronger than him.

“No, Keith, just stay in here.”

“Pidge, please-” Another scream rang out, making Keith winced. “Please, just tell me- just tell me what’s going on. Please. Be honest, don’t just tell me everything is going to be okay.”

“Lance… his foot was really badly damaged.”

“And…”

“And…” Pidge let it all out in one big breath. “And we can’t save it, it’s too far gone so we had to amputate.”

“No…”

Keith let Pidge push him gently back to the couch and sit him down. He really _was_ the worst leader ever.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is low-key self-abusive. Lance is a good older brother. Klancers, if you touch this, I will rip your heads off and feed you to the demon living underneath my stairs. :)

Lance shifted uncomfortably on his bed. _Quiznek_ , his ankle hurt. It did when it was cold, like it was remembering how he’d almost lost his whole leg to frostbite. Unfortunately, the Castle was almost _always_ cold. He stared for a moment at the stump where his ankle had been. It still unnerved him, that there was nothing there. Pidge and Hunk were working on making him a robotic foot (Hunk had already made Pidge fingers so that she could help him with the foot), but until they did, he could only get around using crutches.

Should he call Coran? The Altean _had_ told him to call if there was anything he needed, but Lance hated feeling like he was helpless, and it was the middle of the night. He swung himself off his bed onto his crutches. He could do this. It was just a walk to the med bay for painkillers and back. Simple.

As he was walking down the hallway, loud noises emanated from the training deck. Lance paused, confused. Who would be in there this late?

\------------------

Keith got back into fighting position. Turned out, the Castle had special boxing gloves, and he could choose to box the robots instead of swordfighting them. He liked it, being able to fight with his bare hands. The boxing gloves stimulated what it would feel like to punch an actual, living, breathing person, and it felt great.

Lotor.

_Punch._

The ice planet.

_Punch._

Shiro’s disappearance.

_Punch._

The robot landed a hit, slamming him right in the eye. Keith, recoiled, dizzy, but quickly got ready again.

His failures.

_Punch._

His mother.

_Punch._

Pidge’s fingers, Lance’s foot.

The robot punched him again, this time in the ribs, and Keith went ballistic on it, slamming it over and over as the events of the ice planet replayed in his head.

His helplessness.

His injured teammates.

His stupid decisions.

With a roar, Keith ripped the robot’s head off. It dissolved, leaving Keith a panting ball of adrenaline.

“That was violent.”

Keith pivoted, his arm swinging in another punch. Lance froze, slamming his eyes shut, and Keith also froze, his fist a few inches from Lance’s face. He let it drop as his brain slowly convinced his body that there weren’t any more enemies to fight.

“Lance! What’re you doing in here, you should be-”

“Please don’t say resting. I’m sick of resting. I’ve got these crutches for a reason.”

Keith tried not to look, he didn’t _want_ to look at what he’d caused. He didn’t want to see how Lance was panting with effort from just walking a few feet down the hallway. He didn’t want to see the once-vibrant paladin drooping and depending on the support of crutches.

“Is there… something you want to talk about, Keith?”

Keith looked down at the ground, away from Lance, away from anything that reminded him of what happened.

“No.”

“I’m going to the med bay. Gonna get some painkillers. Want to come with? Your eye is starting to swell.”

Keith put one hand up to his eye, gently feeling it. “No. No, I’m fine.”

Lance shrugged. “Okay. Suit yourself.” He hobbled back down the hallway.

\------------------

Keith was still in the training deck when Lance came back down the hallway; he was still fighting the robots. Lance shook his head.

“Don’t you ever sleep?”

Keith sighed. “Go back to bed, Lance.”

Lance mock saluted, almost falling off of his crutches. “Yes, sir, Mr. Black Paladin, sir.”

\-----------------

Lance cursed and rubbed his ankle. Quiznek, couldn’t he get decent sleep for a whole week?! Why was something always hurting?! He really, _really_ hated this and wished, as he got his crutches, that Pidge and Hunk would finish his foot soon. The next time he saw Lotor, he wanted to be able to kick him in the crotch with his nice metal foot.

The lights were on in the training room, and Lance mentally groaned. What was Keith _doing_?!

\------------------

“End training sequence!”

Keith shoved himself up from the ground, wincing and rubbing his shoulder. He’d been forcing harder and harder levels without beating the levels before moving on. It wasn’t good for him, he knew, but he did it anyway. He deserved all the bruises.

“Start training level thirteen.”

Time to move on.

This level was even harder, this robot punched harder, was faster, smarter and bigger. There was no way in all of the universe he could beat this thing, and he knew it.

But he fought anyway. It was only when he was on the ground, panting and unable to get up that he decided it was time to stop.

“End-”

The robot stomped on his stomach, knocking all the breath out of him. It picked him up, throwing him across the arena. Keith struggled to get up, barely hauling himself into a standing position.

“End-”

The robot punched him in the face before kicking him in the ribs, sending him skidding away, lying flat on his back. It hovered over him, ready to finish him off.

“End training sequence.”

The robot dissolved into light, Lance standing behind it.

“Dude. What the actual quiznek.”

Keith focused on breathing and not passing out. Lance nudged him with one of his crutches.

“Hey, are you alive?”

Keith glared balefully at him, the effect of which was ruined by the fact that he looked like a package of ground beef.

“Cause, I mean, if you’re not alive, then the black lion’s up for grabs.”

“I’m alive.”

“You look pretty dead to me.”

Lance dropped down next to him, sitting in a crisscrossed position.

“What were you _doing_?!”

“Fighting- a- robot. What did it look like?”

“Like you getting the absolute crud kicked out of you, that’s what. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Keith panted, “I- uh, I just thought fighting a really hard robot was a good idea. I’m fine. Go back to bed.”

“I’m not five, Keith. You can’t just send me back to bed. Have you even been beating the other levels, or are you just physically punishing yourself?”

“None of your business.”

Lance started poking Keith.

“Stop that!”

“Make me.”

Keith swatted at him, but it was weak, and Lance just kept poking him.

“Are you going to start telling the truth, or are you going to keep lying to me and yourself?”

“I’m- not- lying- to- myself!”

“Yes, you are. You’re a terrible liar, you’ve got the lie face on.”

Keith sat up, wincing. “The lie face?”

Lance scrunched his face up, his lips going into a little pout and his eyebrows going all the way up as he furiously avoided Keith’s eyes.

“Like that. The lie face.”

“You’re insane.”

“ _Keith._ What’s wrong?”

“I just… I don’t…” Keith ran his fingers through his bangs in frustration. “I can’t lead! I know you said that you would stand behind me and support me, but look where that’s gotten all of you! Pidge is missing fingers, you’re missing a foot, and we _still_ haven’t found Shiro, and we’ve been losing battles, and I can’t make good decisions!” Keith could feel tears of frustration building up in his eyes, and he blinked them away.

“Keith, we didn’t follow you because we thought you’d be a natural leader. Far from it. We followed you because we knew, somewhere deep down within ourselves, that you’d be the best to fit the role and that you’d grow into a great leader.”

“But…”

Lance grinned. “Everybody’s got an awkward growing stage. I won’t get mad at you for yours. Everybody else feels the same. And all of us… we’re all your friends, Keith.”

“I…” The tears threatened to spill over.

Lance sighed. Just like his nephew. “Alright, come here, you unexpected softie.”

He gently hugged Keith, who cried into his shoulder.

“Alright. You’re going to be alright. I’m right here. You know, you might be the oldest, but I swear it’s like having a baby brother; you need constant attention and care or you’re going to kill yourself. Physically or emotionally.”

“I- I don’t- I’m so lost,” Keith mumbled, “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Hey, none of us do. We’re all just winging it. Or, well, I guess you could say we’re-”

“If you make a lion pun, I will throttle you,” Keith warned, his voice still muffled.

“Okay. No lion puns. Got it. You okay?”

Keith pulled back, sniffling. “Yeah. I’m okay.”

“Good. Now. Stop blaming yourself. Every problem in the universe is not your fault.”

“But-”

“No buts. And stop punishing yourself.”

“I’m not-”

“Keith. Stop lying to yourself. You’re just using training as a method of hurting yourself. Stop it. And if you have problems, well, all of us are here. I’m all adviced out, though, so go to someone else. If you’re feeling lost, well, if Tyesha’s forest taught us anything, it’s that you can trust your friends to guide you.”

“Alright. Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, what are right arms for? Alright, then. I’m going to the med bay. Want to come?”

“I think I probably should.”

“Yeah.”

\-----------------

Tlatoani squeezed her eyes shut, searching the universe.

“Takeshi Shirogane,” she murmured, “Where _are_ you?”


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, remember that subplot I introduced with Iverson? Probably not, I barely remembered it. Or: Keith gets a lesson in Biology.

“Got a new planet for us to save?”

Allura nodded. “I’m afraid… Earth is suffering a relapse. The Galra are attacking it, and, of course, Iverson already blew up the command center, so he has no leverage to keep Earth safe.”

“Alright. How bad is it?”

“Not too bad, I believe. If I understood correctly, there are only three cruisers, but, of course, Earth does not have the weapon capability to do more than defend. They are in desperate need of our assistance.”

“Then what’re we waiting for?! Let’s go save a planet!”

\------------------

Keith’s sword quickly dispatched of the last Galra cruiser, and they watched it crash to the Earth’s surface.

“Does anyone else think that was too easy?”

“Don’t be so suspicious, Keith! They probably just underestimated how much force would be needed to take down Earth.”

“I’m just saying…”

“Allura, can we visit? Please?”

“Well…”

“I just wanna see my family, please?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Uh, no, we’ve got a universe to save, you guys know that, we can’t just-”

“Keith, stop being such a party downer! It’ll be fine!”

Keith frowned. He didn’t like this. Something here smelled fishy.

\--------------

“Lance! Lance!”

Allura smiled as a few small children ran up and pounced on Lance, dragging him down to the floor.

“Aaaargh! You got me!”

The giggled and crawled all over him, wrestling and dragging him to the ground.

“Say Uncle!”

“I am your uncle,” Lance protested.

“Say Uncle!”

“Uncle! I surrender!”

They all clambered off of Lance, panting and laughing. He grinned up at the adults nearby.

“Hey, Mom, Dad, Jacinta! I, uh, I fly a magic blue lion now. Sorry I left so soon. Um, Jacinta, where’s Michael?”

The older girl bit her lip and looked at the ground. “Michael had a shocking chip. He… he didn’t make it.”

\----------------

(Author’s note: That was back in chapter five, a veritable eon ago, in case you don’t remember.)

\---------------

Lance scrambled off the ground, hugging Jacinta. “Oh, no, I’m so sorry! I know how much you loved him.”

Jacinta smiled sadly as she looked at the children, now wrestling each other on the ground. “So much. More than enough to get married and have children. But at least you’re safe.” She embraced him. “I thought we’d lost you, too. We were so worried when we couldn’t find you anywhere! And then Hunk was also gone…”

“Aw, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you worried, but we shut down our chips and then-”

“Katie!”

A woman who had to be Mrs. Holt hurried towards them, sweeping Pidge up into a hug. She was closely followed by Sam Holt, his legs in braces, but alive and walking, and Matt.

“I can’t believe- what happened?!”

“Uh, I kind of went into space. And I became a paladin of Voltron. And I got captured by the Galra, but I made it out okay. Oh, and I lost some fingers, I have robot fingers now, isn’t that cool? I can update them with all _kinds_ of fun gadgets.”

“Ha, you’ve got nothing,” Lance called, “My whole foot is robotic!”

He was instantly covered by his family again, demanding to know if he was alright and asking to see the foot. Nearby, Hunk’s parents were hugging him.

Allura slipped into the background, standing next to Keith.

“Nobody?”

Keith shook his head. “My dad was an only child, and my grandparents didn’t last long in slave labor.”

“I’m sorry. Does this…”

“It doesn’t bother me. Not anymore. It’s nice to know that, well… it’s nice to know that at least _they’ve_ got someone. Reminds me of what we’re trying to do.”

“Still… I can’t help but feel…”

Keith smiled, maybe a little wistfully. “You guys are my family now.”

Lance approached them, eyes shining. “Can we stay the night? Please? Just one night?”

Allura tried not to look at his pleading puppy dog eyes and absolutely failed. “Well… I don’t think…”

One of Lance’s nieces ran up, staring at Allura with adoring eyes. “You’re pretty. Can you stay? Can I braid your hair?” She turned to Keith. “I can braid your hair too!”

Keith made a little choking noise, and Lance sniggered. Allura smiled at the little girl, whose eyes were wide and hopeful.

“Well… I don’t see why not. One night can’t hurt.”

\---------------

Keith looked up from his bed as someone knocked on his door. He was staying in his old room at the Resistance base. He’d only stayed there a couple of days before leaving, sure, but it was better than nowhere.

“Hello? Who’s there?”

“A friend. Listen, you _have_ to get out of here. The Galra attack was a setup to lure you here.”

Keith slipped out of bed, heart pacing frantically. He still didn’t open the door, but he pressed one hand against the wood, his other hand on the doorknob.

“What are you _talking_ about?!”

“It’s Iverson.” The voice dropped to a whisper. “ _He knows what you are_.”

“What?!”

There was a muffled _bang_ and the voice didn’t respond.

“Hello? Hello?”

Keith yanked open the door, and a man tumbled in, a dark stain blossoming on his shirt. Keith felt frantically for a pulse, but there was none. He looked up at the looming shadows of people, his face a mask of shock.

“You _killed_ him!”

Two men with masks on so that Keith couldn’t see their faces yanked him up by his arms, pinning them behind his back. Keith yanked violently, but their grips remained firm.

“Let me _go_! I didn’t do anything!”

“Kogane.”

Keith stopped struggling and stared, confused, at the face in front of him.

“Iverson?! What… What are you _doing_?! I haven’t done anything and you know it!”

“We have a law. No Galra are allowed on our planet. You, Kogane, are in direct violation of that law.”

“What? I-”

“You are under arrest for being a Galra. You have the right to remain silent, which I firmly believe that you should exercise. We’re taking you-”

“You’re not taking me anywhere,” Keith snarled. He stomped down hard on one of his restrainer’s instep, causing him to let go in sudden pain, and punched the other one in the face, making a break for the door. As he was running, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, and everything went dead. He went down in a spectacular heap.

 _Huh,_ he thought as he drifted off into unconsciousness, _who knew_ _they had tranquilizer darts?_

\------------------

“Has anyone seen Keith?”

Lance looked up from his toast as Allura strode in with her hair French braided and her brow creased in worry. He shook his head.

“Not since last night. Why?”

“He said he’d be here this morning, but he’s not. I’m worried.”

Lance’s niece pouted. “And I didn’t get to braid his hair, either!”

Lance patted her head. “Well, then. We’ll just have to find him for you then, won’t we?”

\------------------

“Someone was _killed_ last night?!”

Iverson nodded gravely. “We suspect a Galra attack, directed towards Keith. A scout came to warn him, and… he didn’t make it. We can’t find Keith anywhere. I’m afraid he might’ve been captured.”

Lance groaned. “Seriously?! I _swear_ , we can’t take him to Earth _one time_ without him getting _kidnapped_!”

“We _have_ to find him.”

Iverson put one hand on Allura’s shoulder, ignoring her full-hearted glare. “Believe me, we’re doing everything we can. We’ll find him.”

\---------------------

Keith opened his eyes. Where was he? And why was there a bright light shining in his eyes? Where were his normal clothes? He was in some kind of loose white shirt and pants, instead of his normal red jacket and black T-shirt. He tried to get up, but something was strapping his arms and legs down to a table.

“Hello,” he called, “Anyone home?! Hello?”

“Nice to see that you’re awake.”

Keith flinched at the voice. He knew that voice. Where did he know that voice from?

“Hey! Don’t stand in the shadows!”

The speaker edged into the light, and Keith squinted, trying to make out a form. He knew that, who was… the kidnappers. The deserters. He yanked desperately at the bonds.

“What’re _you_ doing here?!”

“You know, Iverson doesn’t like you much.”

“Yeah, well, he can join the party.”

“He never liked you from the start, and you know, the news that you were half Galra was very interesting. _Very_ interesting. I can see why you didn’t tell him. If he didn’t like you before, you should’ve seen him when he found out that you were one of us.”

“I’m _not_ one of you.”

“But you are. You know, most people think that being half-alien means that both alien and human features will mold into one midway point. Like a half-Galra half-human will have blue skin or some other such nonsense. Hogwash. That’s very rare. Gene expression works just the same with aliens as it does with humans. If a brown-eyed human and a blue-eyed human have a child, does that mean that they’ll have muddy blue eyes? Probably not. More likely is them having brown or blue eyes, depending on the dominant genes. You worked the same way. Your mother’s nose and face shape were dominant, so you inherited them. Your father’s skin color was dominant, so you ended up with his coloring.”

“What’s your point?!”

“Well, what if those recessive genes became dominant? What if the purple skin of your mother and her yellow eyes became dominant genes?”

Keith’s pupils dilated in fear. “You can’t! That’s not-”

“Possible? I assure you, it is. Put him under.”

“What?!”

Another Galra approached, holding a needle. Keith strained harder against his bonds.

“NO! No, don’t put me under, don’t-”

The needle pierced his skin, and his tongue died in his mouth.

“I wonder how the world will treat its hero,” the Galra growled, “when it’s hero’s appearance is that of the enemy.”

\----------------

“Wake up.”

Keith stared blurrily at the forms hovering above him.

“I _said_ , wake _up_!”

Something slapped him on the face, snapping everything into focus. Ugh. His mouth ached, like he’d been growing new teeth or something. And all the bright lights were hurting his eyes. Why was everything so bright? He wanted to shade his eyes, but he was still tied to the table.

Oh. He was still tied to the table.

“Hey! Let me out!”

“Calm down, _scum_.”

Keith felt over his teeth with his tongue. He winced when he touched the canines, which were razor sharp.

“What did you do to me?!”

“We changed your genetics. And sped up the processes that would be needed to show the genes, of course. Skin peeling, teeth falling out, that sort of thing. Would you like to take a look?”

A mirror hovered over Keith’s face, and he drew away, hissing. That wasn’t his face. That _couldn’t_ be his face! It was purple, his ears were like some kind of cat’s ears, and his eyes… they’d retained their purple-grey irises, but the whites of his eyes had turned a golden color.

 _Like Lotor’s eyes_ , some small part of him whispered, _just like Lotor’s eyes._

He pulled harder on the straps holding him down, adrenaline fueling his strength until he snapped then right off of the table. He pushed the mirror away, and ripped an IV out of his arm, running for the door.

“Are you sure you want to go out there? Do you know what they’ll think?”

Keith didn’t even hesitate, He burst out the door, running into the crowded hallways of the Resistance base.

“Galra!”

“How’d it get in here?!”

“Kill it!”

Keith backed away from the angry, confused and frightened faces, turning and sprinting towards the exit, gunshots echoing behind him. He pushed past the security, a team of gunmen hot on his trail. He dodged them into a forest, getting as far ahead as he could before scrambling into a tree.

He sat in the tree, waiting as search teams stomped by. He let out a deep sigh. He was safe. For now.

It didn’t last long. Only about a quarter of an hour passed before Iverson came by with the same masked men as before. Keith held his breath, hoping, praying they wouldn’t notice him. Iverson looked all around, his eyes taking in every detail before his eyes locked onto Keith’s position.

Keith gasped, biting his lip. He hadn’t seen anything, he was just trying to scare Keith out. That’s what he told himself.

Iverson grabbed a gun and shot right up into Keith’s tree.

Keith bit his lip so hard he tasted blood, but that was better than the alternative. The bullet had passed right through his left shoulder. He winced and tried to keep himself from either falling out of the tree or shouting, both of which were equally hard.

Iverson narrowed his eyes at the tree before signaling to his cronies to leave.

“Alright. He’s gone. But we’ll find him eventually. He has nowhere to go.”

When Keith was sure they were gone, he slid out of the tree with an ungraceful _thump_ , leaning against the tree’s thick trunk and clutching his shoulder. His breathing was deep and uneven. What was he going to do?

\---------------

Allura frowned at Iverson. “It was definitely a Galra?”

“We saw him running through our base. We tried to catch him, but he was a slippery one.”

“And you’re _sure_ that he’s taken Keith?”

“One hundred percent. We’re working to find him, but until we can, I suggest you four stay indoors. If he can take out Keith, then he clearly has the capability and drive to take out the rest of you.”

“I do believe that we can handle ourselves, Commander.”

“I’m sure Keith thought that too. Stay inside for your own safety and keep your eyes peeled.”

\--------------------

Lance woke up to a knock on his window.

“What the…” He sleepily turned on a light before opening his window. “Who- Galra!”

He fumbled for his bayard, pointing it at the Galra sitting on the ledge outside his window. He misjudged distance, however, because when he activated the bayard, it smacked the Galra in the face, knocking him backwards off of the ledge with a yelp.

“Ow!”

Lance slammed the window shut and stampeded down the stairs, tearing out the back door, but when he got outside, the Galra was gone. He squinted into the darkness. Where could he have gone?

\----------------

Keith clutched his shoulder, breathing heavily and leaning on a tree. He’d received similar treatment at Pidge’s house, although she’d just outright punched him in the face. So now he was here at Hunk’s house, unsure if he was going to make it. What was it they said? Three strikes? He really, _really_ hoped he wouldn’t strike out.

\-------------------

Hunk yawned and sat up sleepily as something weakly tapped on his window. He flipped on the lights and opened the window, not expecting someone to tumble in, clutching their shoulder, and fall onto his floor.

“Ohmygosh!”

Hunk flipped the person over, jumping backwards with a yelp. It was a Galra! An actual, live Galra, in his house, lying on the ground, bleeding all over the floor.

“Please,” he moaned, “Help.”

Hunk gently sat him up, peeling the Galra’s fingers from his injured shoulder. “Whoa. That’s quite the injury you’ve got there. What happened?”

“Iverson. Insane. Please…”

His eyes rolled up in his head, and he passed out.

Hunk bit his lip. On one hand, this Galra was asking for his help and desperately needed medical attention. On the other hand, he might be the same Galra who had killed a man and who’d kidnapped and/or killed Keith. On the third hand- no, wait, he didn’t have that many hands. Well. He was young looking, and Hunk didn’t think he looked like a killer.

Hunk sighed. He couldn’t let this poor guy die. He snuck past his parent’s rooms into the bathroom, grabbing bandages and gauze.

Hunk peeled back the Galra’s sleeve, sticky with blood, and squinted at the Galra’s exposed shoulder. Wait a minute. Those scars… whipping scars? Why would he have… Hunk frowned. Something was very off here.

\-----------------

“Hunk, what’s going on?”

“I can’t explain, not here, but I need you and Pidge.”

Lance frowned. “What about Allura?”

“No, she might not- um, well, you’ll understand. Just come on.”

Lance followed Hunk dubiously, and Hunk led both him and Pidge upstairs into his room.

“What on Earth is going on?!”

“Um, well, last night, there was this tapping on my window, and well, uh…” He opened his closet door, revealing where he’d hidden the Galra, still weak, but sitting up, clutching his wounded shoulder. “I kind of found a Galra and he was injured so I fixed him and I don’t know, but he might be a slave.” Hunk pushed it all out in one breath.

Lance yanked out his bayard, pointing it at the Galra, who flinched, scooting away.

“Lance, put that down!”

“He’s the one who killed that guy! He’s probably hiding Keith somewhere!”

“Lance, no!”

Lance surged into the closet, accompanied by Pidge. Lance grabbed the Galra by the collar of his shirt, slamming him into the wall, ignoring his cry of pain. Pidge blocked Hunk from getting into the closet.

“What’s your game?!”

“Let me go!”

“Are you trying to pick us off?! Tell me!” Lance shook him ignoring the Galra’s wince and the fact that his shoulder was starting to bleed.

“Lance, stop it!”

“He killed someone, Hunk! Someone with a family and friends! Why are you here?!” Lance punched the Galra in the shoulder, and he howled in agony.

“Let. Me. GO!”

The Galra kicked Lance in the privates, scrambling away when Lance dropped him and running out the door, pushing past Pidge and Hunk. Hunk was the only one who could see, who was _willing_ to see that the Galra’s eyes were wide and panicked and that he was hyperventilating; he was obviously terrified, but the other paladins were too angry about the death of a human and Keith’s disappearance.

“Guys, stop, you’re scaring him! He’s confused! Pidge, no!”

Pidge shot her bayard at the running Galra, the line wrapping around him and knocking him to the ground. A jolt of electricity zapped through the line, making the Galra on the other end spasm. She retracted her bayard, and all three paladins approached the shaking figure on the floor, Lance and Pidge with hostility, Hunk with compassion.

“Don’t try to run.”

“Please,” the Galra moaned, curling into a ball, “leave me alone. I don’t want- I never wanted this.”

“What…” Pidge and Lance glanced at each other, bewildered.

Hunk knelt down next to him, and he flinched. Hunk gently put a hand on is shoulder.

“We’re not going to hurt you. _Right, guys_?”

“Uh, sure. Just don’t try to, you know, kill us or anything.”

“What? Why… why would I kill you?”

Lance frowned. “I don’t know. Why would you kill a Resistance member?”

“I didn’t… What? I never… that was Iverson!”

“Wait. Who are you?”

“I- it’s me. You guys- you didn’t figure it out?”

He looked at them with troubled eyes, and Pidge squinted at the irises.

“Wait a minute-”

“I- I’m Keith.”

\---------------

Lance couldn’t stop staring. “Wait. So. Wait. You got your genetics changed.”

“Yes.”

“And now you look like an actual Galra.”

“Yes.”

“And _Iverson_ did this?”

“Well, technically it was a band of Galra deserters, but they were in league with Iverson, yes.”

“Why?”

“He’s insane. He thinks- I don’t know, he already hated my guts, and he’s trying to expose my heritage or something.”

“And he _shot_ you?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Allura’s going to flip.”

“About which part?”

“All of it. The whole sha-bang.”

“Great.”

“What we need to focus on,” Pidge broke in, “Is getting you back to the Castle without Iverson figuring it out. He has eyes on the Castle, ‘just in case the Galra tries to sneak in,’ of course, but he’ll spot you coming from a mile away.”

“Hey, Lance, did you find-”

Lance’s niece stood in the doorway, staring at Keith, her mouth wide open. Lance frantically waved a hand at her.

“No, please don’t-”

She started to scream.

Everybody came running, including all of Lance’s family, Hunk’s parents, the Holts, and Allura.

“It’s got in the house!”

Lance’s father grabbed a shotgun.

“Get away from it, kids!”

“No, dad, wait! Don’t-”

Lance’s dad fired the shotgun, barely missing Keith.

“Dad, wait, don’t!” Lance wrestled his father for control of the gun, and Hunk and Pidge stepped protectively in front of Keith, who was staring at the hole in the wall behind him.

“Hunk! Pidge! Lance! What is going on in here?!”

“Allura, I promise there’s a really good explanation for this, but as of right now, we need to get on the Castle and get out of here.

“But what about Keith?!”

“Long explanation cut short, Keith is purple now, let’s go before Iverson surrounds us and kills Keith, come on!”

“What?!”

“Sorry to run so soon, bye, I love you all, take care, let’s goooooo!”

Lance grabbed Allura’s hand and pulled her out the door, Pidge yanking Keith by his uninjured arm and Hunk bringing up the rear.

“Sorry! Love you, Mom, Dad. Lovely meeting you all, gotta dash!”

\----------------

“How’re we supposed to get into the Castle?!”

“Wait.” Allura put her arms out. “Before we proceed, I want a full explanation of what’s going on. Why are we leaving, where’s Keith and why are we taking a _Galra_ with us?!”

“Allura, it’s me, Keith. Iverson… well, I’m not sure what happened, but, I uh…” Keith spread his arms out wide. “I look like this now.”

“Not good enough. Tell me something only Keith would know, show me some evidence.”

“Allura, is this really-”

“No. She’s right to suspect me. I could be anyone.” Keith looked Allura dead in the eye before lifting the back of his shirt up and pointing to a scar, the one Lotor had given him with a sword. “That proof enough?”

Allura bit her lip. “Yes. It is. I’m sorry, Keith. Alright. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

\-------------------

“Ready?”

All of the paladins nodded, and Allura let out a deep breath.

“I hope this works,” she murmured. “Coran, go!”

“Alright, princess!”

A wormhole shuddered into existence in front of them.

“Alright! Everybody in!”

Each of the paladins ran into the wormhole, falling out the other end at the top of the Castle. The particle barrier activated, and a pod was waiting underneath them to catch them. The engines of the Castle started up as the paladins ran into the bridge, and they blasted off. Allura used the speakers to broadcast her voice down below.

“People of Earth. We thank you for your hospitality, but pressing matters have given us no choice but to leave. We hope that you will continue to fight against the Galra, and perhaps one day, all our species can live in harmony. Human, Galra and Altean. But until then, fight on.”

\-------------------

Allura stared up at an unconscious Keith, floating in his cryo pod. “Is he going to be alright?”

“Don’t you worry, princess. He’ll be right as rain in a bit.”

“Can you fix his… appearance?”

“Actually, yes! The cryo pod is treating this like it would any mutating DNA and is restoring his DNA to normal! It will take time, but he’ll return to his original appearance.”

“Why won’t it happen immediately, like his transformation to Galra did?”

“Well, it appears that they sped up various processes that led to that. For instance, our skin cells are always dying, and they just sped the skin cells’ dying process enough that the purple ones from his new DNA sequence made an obvious difference quickly. The ears… that might be a little painful, since the bones are entirely different, he might have to spend some extra time in the cryo pod for that. The teeth, I think, are going to stay, because he’d already grown in his permanent teeth and won’t lose the canines. I’m not sure about the eyes, though. I think… I think in the eyes they just unlocked a different part of his DNA, quite by accident, something that the cryo pods can’t reverse.”

“His eyes are going to remain the same?”

“No, I think the golden eyes were a side effect of the unlocked DNA that only shows during times of high emotion.”

“So, every time he gets stressed or scared or angry his eyes will turn yellow?

“Or happy, or sad or excessively proud. Any high emotion. It doesn’t have to be negative; it’ll be like crying; whenever there’s excessive emotion.”

“I can’t help but wonder how this is going to affect the universe’s view on Voltron.”

“Well, if the universe has any sense at all, it won’t matter who’s saving them as long as they’re saved. They’d be foolish to think otherwise.”

“Coran?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“I’m glad you’re here with me.”

Coran took Allura’s hand comfortingly. “Don’t you worry, Princess. I wouldn’t leave you for the world.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I give Keith a break for a bit and slam on someone else.

“Good news, everybody!”

All of the paladins looked up from where they were sitting in the break room as Allura strode through the doors, smiling broadly.

“Our fight against Zarkon and Lotor has inspired other planets to rise up against them! One planet has already freed itself from the Empire’s clutches, and they want to meet us! We’re on the verge of a great new age of diplomacy.”

“…Yay?”

“Yes, yay, Lance! Now, we’re all going to have to learn the customs of this planet so that none of us accidentally-”

“Um, Allura?”

“Yes, Keith?”

“I’m thinking I should maybe sit this one out.”

“What?!”

Keith stared at the ground. “I mean… they just liberated themselves from the Galra, so, you know, they probably don’t have good feelings in general towards anyone who looks like a Galra, and, well, my eyes are normal, but my skin isn’t and-”

“Wait, Keith gets to skip on diplomacy? No fair!”

“Lance! Being a diplomat is a gift! And Keith, I don’t know, they’ll want to see the head of Voltron, we can’t just-”

“I have an idea.” Pidge grinned. “Allura, do you think there’s a cosmetic shop anywhere nearby?”

\-------------------

“You’re going to put _foundation_ on me?!”

“Yes.”

“No!”

“Uh, Keith, I just said yes!”

“I’m not going to put _makeup_ on!”

“Why not?”

“I don’t- I just-”

“Oh, hush. Your manliness will remain intact. It’s just for a little while. Do you want to do some diplomacy or not?”

“Not!”

“Be quiet and hold still.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake, Keith,” Allura added, “It’s not like we’re torturing you. Just sit down and let Pidge apply the stuff.”

“What’s next,” Keith groaned, “Eyeshadow? Lipstick?”

“Only if you think it’ll help.”

“NO!”

\--------------

“I feel ridiculous,” Keith muttered as they descended to the planet below.

“You look it, too,” Lance offered.

“Lance, stop it. Keith, you look fine.”

“But I don’t _feel_ fine. I’m wearing _makeup_.”

“It’s not that bad. Stop complaining. I feel like I did an inferior job.”

“Oooo, nice guilt trip, Pidge!”

“Thank you, Lance.”

The pod bumped down to the surface of the planet, and the paladins walked out to a busy marketplace. They all stared at the foods, clothes shops, and, of course, the people. The natives of this planet were all somewhere in-between Pidge’s and Keith’s height, so Hunk practically towered over them all. They were all relatively humanoid, but they had wings- wings!- extending from their backs. They were like a race of little angels, although the wings varied. Some had more bat-like wings, while others had bird wings.

“Why are they so small,” Lance whispered to Hunk, “I feel like a giant.”

“Makes sense,” Hunk whispered back, “If they were our size, their wingspans would have to be ridiculously large to get them off the ground.”

“So if we attached wings to Pidge, she could fly?”

Pidge subtly swatted Lance. “No, idiot. They probably have hollow bones or something. Now shut up and look diplomatic.”

“Hey! You! Give that back!”

Someone maybe Pidge’s height or a little taller pushed past the paladins, speeding off into the streets. A heavier alien leaned over panting. He glared up at the paladins.

“Well? He just stole my fruit! Aren’t you going to do something?!”

“On it.”

Before anyone could protest, Pidge latched her grappling hook onto a floating decoration and swung through the air, yanking it out and shooting it into the next decoration.

“Hey look,” Lance whispered to Hunk, “She doesn’t _need_ wings to fly.”

Pidge landed in front of the thief, and he skidded to a stop, looking frantically for an escape, but there was none; Pidge had been cautious to land in a spot where there were no turns or alleys he could escape into.

“Give up. Just hand over the fruit, and you’ll be fine.”

He stepped into the light, and Pidge almost lost her nerve, because he was a _Galra_! “This isn’t what it looks like!

“Really? Because it looks to me like a low-life Galra deserter is, as all Galra do, stealing from others for his own sake.”

“No! I’m not-”

“Stealing? That fruit looks awfully unpaid for to me.”

“You don’t understand! I-”

“Gotcha, rat!”

The Galra yelped as the fruit seller seized his arm.

“Don’t let him take me! You’re a paladin, protector of the innocent, right? Help me, please!”

“I’m sorry, but you stole this guy’s fruit. You’ll probably just have some jail time, it’ll be fine.”

“You don’t understand,” the boy shouted as the fruit seller dragged him off, “You’re on the wrong side here, paladin!”

“Thank you, green paladin. This here’s a deserter from the Galra Empire who’s been stealing from the marketplace since he left the army. We can rest easy now he’s caught.”

Pidge inclined her head, troubled a little. “Right. It’s my job.”

“Get a move on, rat.”

The Galra gave Pidge one last despairing look before he was dragged away.

Something bumped against Pidge’s foot, and she looked down. It was the fruit! What was it doing here? Shouldn’t the vendor have picked it up? She scooped the fruit up and ran after the vendor.

“Hey! Sir! You left this! Hey! Sir! Mr. fruit-seller!”

She dodged through the crowd, chasing after the quickly moving fruit vendor and his catch.

“Hey! Wait up!”

He didn’t wait up; he dragged the boy into a nearby building, and Pidge frowned. That didn’t look much like a jail. She crept up to the door, some instinct telling her that she needed to be silent.

“Filthy little RAT!”

Pidge heard the sound of a blow, and the Galra whimpering. She winced.

“You think you can steal from _me_?!”

“Please! I didn’t mean to-”

“SILENCE, BRAT!”

There was another thump and another cry of pain. The fruit dropped out of Pidge’s hands, landing with a _thump_ on the ground. The sounds inside stopped, except for the whimpering of the Galra.

“Hey! Who’s there?!”

Pidge backed away and ran back to the crowded marketplace.

\------------------

“He was beating him!”

“Pidge, now isn’t the time, they want us at this feast thing, and-”

“Allura, he was _beating_ a _kid_!”

“I understand that, Pidge, but it isn’t our place to interfere. It may be perfectly legal to take justice into your own hands here, in which case, we can’t interfere.”

“Allura!”

“I’m sorry, Pidge, but we have to know more before we can act on it. Discussion closed.”

\--------------------

Pidge dozed fitfully that night, the Galra’s cries of pain threaded in her dreams. A loud scream echoed through her skull, and she sat up, panting. Just a nightmare. Just a dream. It couldn’t hurt her.

She heard a whimper from outside her window, and she opened it, looking outside for the source.

“Owwww. _Quiznek_. Stupid- terrible- jerk- ow!”

Pidge quietly crept out of the villa they were staying in and came around to the mouth of the alley.

“Hello? Is- is someone down here?”

The figure looked up and then scrambled away, trying to climb the wall.

“Hey, wait, I don’t want to hurt you-”

The person fell off of the wall with a yelp, and Pidge heard a nasty snapping noise.

“Oh, man, are you okay?!”

Pidge rushed up to him, and he scooted away, growling, his shoulder obviously dislocated.

“Don’t get near me!”

“Hey, hold on, I won’t hurt you-”

“Go away!”

“Hey, it’s alright you can trust-”

“I can’t trust anyone! Go away! You’ll hurt me!”

“I promise I won’t. Hold on, just let me…”

Pidge lowered herself to the ground to make herself less threatening and scooted towards him. He was clearly too weak to try to get away, and he let her approach, watching her warily.

“Hey. My name is Pidge. What’s yours?”

“Jalen.”

Pidge knelt next to him.

“Why don’t you let me see that shoulder? Come inside with me, I can fix you up.”

“I can’t go in there! I’m not allowed!”

Pidge frowned. “It’s a public building, everybody’s allowed.”

Jalen laughed bitterly. “Not when you’re a Galra.”

“It’s you!” Wow, he was older than she had originally thought; at least her age, probably a year or two older.

“It’s me,” he agreed, “Who’re you?”

“I- oh, I’m the green paladin.”

“The- no!”

Jalen pushed himself up, stumbling away from her.

“Wait, I don’t want to hurt you-”

“I’m not going back,” he panted, “I can’t! I won’t!”

“What’re you talking about? I’m not going to-”

“No! I won’t go back! You can’t make me!” He ran back out of the alleyway.

“No! Wait, come back, you’re hurt!”

He wasn’t very fast, which confused Pidge; he’d certainly been fast enough to escape earlier, what was wrong now? He puffed, each breath an effort as he kept running away, occasionally holding onto a lamppost for support.

Pidge finally caught up to him, putting a hand on his uninjured shoulder.

“Hey, it’s okay.”

“No,” he panted, “Gotta… gotta run…” his eyes rolled back into his head, and Pidge barely caught him, sinking to the ground from the weight

“Whoa!” She looked back towards the public house. “Whoo, boy. You just _had_ to make it hard, didn’t you?

\---------------

Pidge heaved Jalen through her window, panting.

“You,” she remarked to him, “while you are deceptively light, are an absolute _pain_ to drag up a wall.”

Pidge examined his shoulder carefully before snapping it back into place, eliciting a yell as the shock woke Jalen up.

“Welcome to the land of the living, lad. Please don’t run away,” Pidge added as he looked at the window, “It’s a pretty long drop, and I _just_ re-located your shoulder.

“I…”

“I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t know what would happen. Someone asked me for help, and, well, I didn’t think twice. How’d you end up here, anyway? You look a little young to be a big bad soldier in Zarkon’s army.”

“I was never a soldier. I’m a half-Galra.”

“What happened to your mother?”

“My mother _was_ the Galra. She thought that she could introduce a new kind of Galra, one with wings, so she pretended to fall for one of the natives of this planet. My dad. He fell head over heels, and the instant she realized I had no wings, she dumped me on my dad and took off.”

“And your dad…”

“Died a couple of years later. No one wanted me, and I almost died out there. But I get along.”

“So the people here…”

“They all hate my guts and try to make my life as miserable as possible. That fruit that I ‘stole?’ I paid for that. I found money on the streets and asked another kid to buy me that fruit; the vendor has a prejudice against me. The instant he saw her giving it to me, he started shouting that I was a thief. But I’m not. I don’t steal.”

“How do you survive without stealing if everybody hates you?”

“This isn’t the only town. I go to other ones, earn money, leave before they realize what I am.”

“Why don’t you just move, if everyone hates you so much?”

“Because I can’t go to other towns for long; I don’t want to get run out of all of them. I circulate each of the towns, once a month to each of the five towns, and by the next turn for them, they’ve forgotten ever seeing me.”

“How do you survive on once a month for each town?!”

He shrugged. “Sometimes I go hungry. Sometimes I find money on the ground. Occasionally someone will have a shred of compassion in their hearts and buy me something. That’s pretty rare, though.”

“Why don’t you come with us?”

“With you? Why?”

“Well, I mean, we don’t mind. The black paladin?”

“Yeah?”

“He’s Galra too. You could get away with us, travel the stars, fight the Galra.”

“I… I can’t.”

“Why not?!”

“I’m waiting.”

“What could you possibly be waiting for?!”

“My mother. I’m hoping that one day… that one day she’ll come back from the stars because she’s realized that she wants me back. And if I leave, she’ll never find me.”

“How can you have any hope for that?”

“I just do. I want to get out of here, but I also want to have my blood family.”

“Jalen?”

“Yeah?”

“When the fruit vendor caught you… what did he do?”

Jalen bit his lip. “Are… are you sure you want to know that? I mean, I know you probably thought I’d just have jail time, but you did help catch me, and-”

“Jalen. I want to know.”

“Okay. Okay.” Jaylen lifted his shirt, revealing a motley of bruises and a few nasty looking cuts. Pidge wondered how she hadn’t noticed before that one of his eyes was black

“He…”

“Mostly with a little club. That’s what most people use when they can pin something on me. Gave me a nasty knock on the head, too. Going to have a nice lump from that one.”

“What, and you just accept this?! That’s not cool! He can’t just-”

“Pidge. I know this seems awful to you, but the Galra did really bad things to people here, and this is hardly-”

“No! That’s not an excuse! If I got shot, I wouldn’t say, ‘oh, well, this doesn’t matter, people get shot and die all the time, I can’t complain’! This is _so_ many levels of not okay! I don’t know _why_ we want to have diplomatic relationships with this planet if _this_ is what they do here!”

“Pidge-”

“I’m going to go right to the leader of this city and demand-”

“Pidge, stop. Don’t get mad. This is just the way things are right now. They’ll get better, eventually, but you demanding things won’t change a whit about anything. It’ll just get people mad at you.”

“Don’t know why we would want to protect this stupid dirtball.”

“Well…” Jalen smiled hesitantly at her. “Would… would you like me to show you more of this ‘stupid dirtball’ so you can see what’s worth saving?”

“That’d be, well, that’d be amazing! I’d love to!” Pidge drooped. “Oh, but we have all these diplomatic meetings tomorrow, and Allura will _flip_ if I miss them.”

Jalen’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “Pidge, have you ever heard of sneezeweed?”

\----------------

“Allura, I’m so sorry, but I’m not feeling good. I think I have a cold or something.”

Pidge took a whiff of the sneezeweed that Jalen had tucked into a tissue for her.

“I’m coughing and sn- sn- Achoo!”

Allura backed away from Pidge a little, as if scared that she was contagious. “Of course. I’ll inform the others that you’re not feeling well. Is there anything you need?”

Pidge waved a hand. “No, no, it’s just a cold. I can manage to get anything I need myself. It’s not that bad, I can probably go to the meeting.” She edged towards the door.

Allura stared apprehensively at Pidge’s dripping nose and watering eyes. “No, no, I think it will be best if you stay here to recover. We wouldn’t want to make your cold worse.”

“Alright. If you say so, Allura.”

“Yes. I hope you recover soon.”

“Thanks.”

Allura inclined her head and scurried back down the hallway, looking back at Pidge occasionally as if scared Pidge was going to follow her like a sick zombie.

Pidge shut her door and took her glasses off, knocking the onion off of them. She grinned.

“Alright!”

Jalen laughed and came out from the closet, picking Pidge up and swinging her around.

“Ha! That was _brilliant_! You, Pidge, are an amazing actor!”

“Thank you, thank you, I won’t be signing any autographs, I’m afraid. Hey, you’re a _lot_ stronger than you look. And wasn’t your arm dislocated?”

Jalen shrugged. “I’m a fairly fast healer. As for strength, you travel with an Altean; haven’t you ever seen their strength?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

Jalen whistled. “Well, let’s just say, if the legends are true, then I would _not_ want to get in a fight with Allura.”

\--------------

“Can I open my eyes now?”

“Almost… almost… alright! Open your eyes!”

Pidge, whose eyes had been squeezed shut, opened them to the sight of a beautiful green valley with a sparkling blue lake, a burbling stream flowing through it. To the north were mountains and the west, forests. And on the ground, running, were those…

“Unicorns?!” They were horses, of all sizes, shapes and colors, but all of them had gently sloping horns protruding from their heads.

“Oh, do you have those on Earth?”

“No, I- just in stories!”

Jalen shrugged. “Some are born with the ability to fold time and space. Probably a couple of young ones wandered to Earth on accident.”

“What else do you have here?! Dragons?!”

“What’re dragons?”

“Giant, fire-breathing lizards? Oh, well, some of them are different, it depends on your culture-”

“Oh, yeah, up in the mountains. Some of them are pretty nice, but some of them can be real grumpy jerks. A couple of them tried to torch me once. That was _pretty_ nasty, but the, what did you call them, the unicorns, they healed me. They’re nice that way.”

“Wow.” Pidge stared at the valley. “It’s _beautiful._ ”

Jalen smiled wistfully at the valley. “Apparently, the whole planet used to be like this, back before the Galra. That’s another reason I stayed; I want to help make that true again.”

“That’s- that’s really noble of you.”

Jaylen followed her gaze to the unicorns. “You want to go pet them? Maybe take one for a ride?”

“Seriously?!”

“Yeah, they’re pretty docile creatures.”

“Won’t they stampede?”

“You’d have to _really_ scare them for that. Like, you’d have to _kill_ one of them to get those guys to stampede. Want to go?”

“Definitely!”

“Alright, come on!”

Jalen slid down the hill, pulling Pidge behind him. A foal cautiously approached them, and Jalen held out his hand for it to sniff, gesturing for Pidge to do the same. She giggled a little when the foal nudged her hand; it tickled.

The foal apparently decided that it liked them, and started rubbing its muzzle on Pidge’s leg, carefully avoiding her with the horn. A bigger unicorn trotted over, and Pidge’s breath was taken away. She wasn’t the typical white and silvery unicorn, but she was even more beautiful, a rich chestnut-brown, whose power was obvious in her muscles. She nudged Jalen with her muzzle before kneeling down.

Jalen gestured to the unicorn. “You want to go for a ride?”

“Yes!”

Jaylen swung one leg over the unicorn’s back and offered Pidge a hand up, seating her behind him.

“Hold on tight!”

He clicked his tongue, and the unicorn got up, suddenly breaking into a full sprint.

Pidge had never felt this speed before. Being in her lion was one thing, but this speed, the wind blowing in her face, the exhilarating freedom, she could ride like this forever!

The unicorn skidded to a stop, nearly throwing the two teenagers over her head.

“Whoa, what’s wrong?”

Jalen patted the unicorn soothingly, but she bucked him off, whinnying. Both Galra and paladin went crashing to the ground in an undignified heap as the unicorn went dashing back the direction they’d come.

“Ow! What the heck…”

Pidge rubbed her head, crawling forward. She could’ve sworn she’d heard voices…

“Hey! Did you hear something?”

“Probably just one of those dumb animals. It’s fine.”

Pidge poked her head through the bushes, Jalen not far behind.

“What…”

Beyond, in a large pit, was a Galra army, thousands of soldiers and a whole fleet of fighters.

“You know what the Emperor said. Take back the planet. Get the lions if we can. Kill the paladins at any opportunity. Invasion is when, now?”

“Two days.”

“Alright.”

“Two days,” Pidge whispered, “They’ll wipe the natives out!”

“We _have_ to warn them!”

The two scurried away, and Pidge’s foot snapped a twig. The loud _crack_ echoed in the silence.

“Hey! Who’s there?!”

“RUN!”

Pidge and Jalen tore back the way they’d come, the Galra’s heavy footsteps echoing behind them. They emerged in the valley, panting.

“Come on,” Jalen wheezed, “If we can just… make it…”

“Jalen, run. I’m going to try something risky. This grass is pretty wet, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Get a safe distance. I’m going to use the water as a conduit for electricity and give these creeps a shocking surprise.”

“Please. No puns.”

“Alright. Get going.”

Jalen retreated maybe ten yards, and Pidge pulled out her bayard. She’d felt a little paranoid when she’d brought it, but now she was glad for it. She shot it as far as possible, and activated the electricity, causing the Galra to jump up and down, howling as the electricity zapped their feet. She crowed with laughter, which quickly turned to fear when the Galra fired a shot in her direction.

It missed, and she laughed.

“Wow! You’re a really bad shot! How the heck did you miss?”

He smiled nastily. “Who’s to say I missed?”

Pidge turned at the sound of loud whinnying to see the whole herd of unicorns rearing up and snorting, one of the other unicorns dead in their midst. They all turned and ran straight at Pidge, panicked. Pidge just stared, frozen in fear, at the stampeding herd.

“PIDGE!”

Jalen picked her up and threw her out of harm’s way; she landed about fifty feet from the stampeding herd, but not far enough away that she couldn’t see Jalen go down in a writhing mass of fur, horns and hooves.

“Jalen! Jalen!”

Pidge tore towards his limp form in the grass as the unicorns moved on, running towards the no-longer-smirking Galra.

“Jalen!”

She turned his limp form over, sobbing. His face was all bloody and bruised, and she was pretty sure his skull was fractured, as well as his ribs from the sound of his breathing

“No, don’t die, please don’t die!”

Jalen groaned, his eyes dull, but still trying for his old attitude. “Who- who said anything about dying?”

“You idiot! Why would you _do_ that!”

“Because… because you actually have the power to make a difference in this universe. And because… because you were the first person in the fourteen years since my dad died to be kind to me.”

“Hold on, don’t die on me!” Pidge clutched his hand. “Stay alive, you can’t die!”

\----------------

Pidge staggered into the marketplace, pulling an unconscious Jalen with her. “Help! Somebody, help, please!”

Whispers were passed around.

“Is that the green-”

“Does she have that Galra boy with her-”

“What’s _he_ doing here?”

“Pidge! What’s going on?! Allura told us you were sick!”

“Keith,” Pidge half-sobbed, “Please, he’s injured and needs help.”

Keith gently picked up Jalen. “I saw a hospital nearby, let’s go.”

\--------------

“What do you _mean_ , you won’t help him?”

“I’m sorry, I know you’re a paladin, and I’d love to help you, but I’m afraid I can’t. He’s a half-Galra, and he can’t be trusted.”

“Look, just, can we talk about his heritage later? He’s going to die!”

“I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”

Keith set Jalen down on a hospital bed, banging his fist on the countertop.

“Alright, look, I didn’t make a special trip across the universe to meet you people so that I could find out that you refuse help to people based on their skin color and the fact that they lack wings. If you want me to give Allura a nice report on the people of this planet, then you better clean up your act and do your job!”

The doctor nodded frantically at Keith’s angry face.

“Of course, of course. We’ll do everything we can.”

“Keith, call the other paladins. We need to talk.

\-----------------

“Pidge, I thought you were sick!”

Pidge looked shiftily away from Allura. “I got better. It was just a cold, I took a walk for some fresh air.”

“How far were you walking?!”

“Uh, well, Jalen-”

“Who?”

Pidge nodded to the mess of bandages and IV lines that was Jalen. “Jalen, uh, he told me he could get rid of my cold, so we went to this valley with, um, well, unicorns, and they kind of… healed the cold.”

“The green paladin was sick?” The leader, a flamingo-looking man, looked at them with a bewildered face. “Well, why didn’t you tell us? We could’ve healed her, and she wouldn’t’ve run off with this… scum.”

“Scum?”

“He’s half-Galra, princess. A deserter from their army. Not really fit company for a paladin.”

Allura wheeled on Pidge. “You ran off with one of the _Galra_?!”

“He’s only half Galra! And he’s nice!”

“ _Pidge_. You _know_ that the Galra cannot be trusted!”

Keith looked at the ground unhappily.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Keith, I didn’t mean-”

“But you did,” Keith muttered. “You did mean it.”

“Anyway,” Pidge interrupted, “the actual _point_ is, while we were down there, we saw a bunch of the Galra, thousands of them. They’re planning an attack in _two days_. You don’t have much time, so I recommend we strike them first, in the lions, before they can get off of the ground.”

“How do we know that you weren’t hallucinating?”

Pidge stared at Allura, her mouth wide open. “ _What_?!”

“You had a strange form of healing, and who knows what kind of side effects it may have had on you. That could’ve even been the intent of this Galra; to get you to start a panic in the city to wreck our diplomacy.”

“I can’t believe-”

“Pidge.”

All heads swiveled to where Jaylen was lying. He moaned.

“Pidge? Pidge, where’d you go?”

Pidge shot to his side, taking his bandaged hand. “I’m here. I’m here, Jalen.”

“You’re okay?”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. Thanks to you.”

He smiled a little. “Oh… good… thought I hadn’t made it in time.”

“No, you did, I’m safe. You need to rest now.”

“You’re safe… good…”

He reached up and gently brushed her face with his other hand.

“I was… worried…”

Allura squinted at Pidge. “Wait. Wait a minute. Wait! Pidge!”

Pidge looked away from Jalen, confused. By now, the other paladins could see what Allura had noticed; Pidge was fading out of sight.

“Huh? Guys? What’s- what’s wrong? Why are you guys-” She disappeared completely.

“Pidge?” Jalen stared confusedly where Pidge had been. “Pidge? Pidge, where’d you go, Pidge?! Pidge!”

“Pidge!” Keith grabbed Jalen by the collar and shook him. “What did you do to her?!”

“I- where’d Pidge go? Where is she?”

“You tell me!”

“Where… Pidge! Pidge!” He sagged in Keith’s grip. “No,” he murmured, “I’m too late… No…”

“Too late?! What’re you talking about?!”

“They told me… They told me…”

“What?!”

“The… what did Pidge call them… the dragons… told me the girl of the stars would disappear… That I had to stop it…”

“What?! Tell me! What are you talking about?!”

“The dragons… I thought… the horned horses were the problem… now she’s gone… I’m too late….” Jalen coughed. “I’m too late…”

Keith gently released him, and Jalen grabbed onto Keith’s hand.

“You have to find her. You _have_ to. She’s the one… the one who can change it all…”

“What do you mean?”

“The dragons… some have the power of foresight.” He cleared his throat.

_“One shall come_

_Far from the stars_

_One who is kind_

_One who will help_

_One with nature_

_One with self_

_She is the key_

_She is the one_

_who will save all men._

_She’ll be here_

_But then she’ll disappear_

_For you to never see again.”_   His eyes eerily found Lance as he continued.

“ _Born of ice, now of fire,_

_Things are not what they seem._

_Now of fire, born of ice,_

_Beware of your virtues,_

_Beware of your vice.”_ Hunk shuddered as his gaze came to rest on the yellow paladin.

“ _Strong of heart,_

_strong of mind,_

_he is gentle,_

_he is kind,_

_but beware of the earth’s dark rage_

_what it gives_

_can be taken away.”_ He seemed to be growing weaker, but he turned to Allura all the same.

“ _Magic strong,_

_blood is thick,_

_watch the anger_

_that makes you tick.”_ He looked off into the distance.

“ _one is missing,_

_one is lost,_

_those who love him_

_will find him_

_no matter the cost.”_

Jalen pulled Keith in and whispered in his ear. Allura watched, confused, as Keith’s eyes widened and then lowered, his head nodding gravely. Her brow creased. What could he be saying? Jalen sank back onto the pillows.

“Keith? What did he…”

Keith stood up. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is finding Pidge and stopping the Galra.”

“But… we have no idea where Pidge is!”

“Attention, all people of this planet.”

All of the paladins ran outside, where a massive screen was now broadcasting the Galra’s faces to all the people. Behind him, alive but tied up, was Pidge.

“We want your unconditional surrender! We don’t want to destroy you, but we have the means to do so. Paladins, if we so much as see _one lion_ get off the ground, we will kill the green paladin. I don’t know where you stashed the black paladin, but know that if we see that any of the other three of you are leaving, then we’ll kill your precious green paladin. I expect the surrender by tomorrow evening, or we’ll commence fire.” The screen shut off.

“They don’t know.”

All of the paladins turned to Keith with confused looks on their faces. Why was he smiling? This was as bad as it could get!

“They don’t know that Allura’s a paladin. They’ll keep eyes on us, but they think Allura is some delicate princess diplomat, so they don’t care about her. Allura, you can get Pidge! You just have to get in without their noticing and grab her, and then, when you’re a safe distance away, we’ll get in the lions and attack.”

“Keith, there’s one problem. I don’t know where the Galra are hiding, and we don’t have enough time to figure it out.”

“ _We_ might not know,” Keith said, turning to the hospital, “But I know someone who does.”

\---------------

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Allura-”

“I won’t. I refuse to take his aid.”

“Allura, come on-”

“Keith, you _know_ we cannot trust the Galra.”

“Oh, you think I should just _leave_ Team Voltron, then?!”

“No, Keith, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s all okay by you! You can’t trust me!”

“Keith, you’re different, you’re-”

“I’m what?! I’m special? One of you?”

“Keith-”

“You keep saying things like ‘the Galra can’t be trusted’, and ‘oh, we can’t trust him, he’s Galra’, and generally act like all Galra are just terrible, ruthless people, and you won’t even give them a _chance_! If I hadn’t been injured, and you hadn’t known that I was Galra, would you have become my friend?! Be honest, Allura.”

“I- I don’t know.”

“Allura, you can’t- I can’t- Every time you say something about how we can’t trust the Galra, it hurts, okay?! It hurts a lot, and you _know_ I’m Galra, and every time you say that, you say that it was a mistake to let me onto Team Voltron and that you’re worried I’m going to betray you all! And it…” Keith clenched his fist. “It makes me feel like you’d be happier if I jumped out of an airlock or disappeared forever.”

“Keith, of course I don’t want-”

“Then… just trust Jalen for a bit, okay? Give him a chance. Prove that you don’t think that way about every Galra, half-breed or otherwise. If you’re not going to do it for Pidge, then do it for me, alright?” He turned away. “Just… go, okay.”

Allura nodded, even though Keith couldn’t see her, and pushed open the door to the hospital. She needed to talk to Jalen.

\--------------

“This way.”

“Are you sure?”

Jalen frowned. “Right now, everything feels like it’s on fire. Every breath I take is agony and every step makes my head feel like it’s being danced on by unicorns. I’m not going to screw up, because if I did, it would mean more pain for me. This is the way.”

“If this hurts so much, why are you doing it? What makes it worth it?”

Jalen gazed off into the distance, in the direction he said led to the Galra. “Pidge… Pidge is the only one who’s been nice to me, since, well, pretty much since I can remember. The Galra treat others, their slaves, badly, and here, it’s the reverse. Everybody took every opportunity they could to hit me and generally make my life miserable, because, well, I’m Galra, why not?”

“I…”

“Save your breath and diplomacy, Princess. I don’t need apologies; I’ve accepted this as the way the universe is, and I just want to help Pidge. I’m not asking you to trust me, I know you probably never will, I’m just asking you to help me help her. A common goal.”

Allura smiled. “A common goal. I can do that.”

“To save Pidge?”

Allura nodded firmly. “To save Pidge.”

\---------------

“This is it?”

“This is it.”

Allura nodded. “Alright. Get yourself somewhere safe. I’ll take it from here.”

Jalen caught her arm. “Hey, wait, you’re not going to jump into that pit, are you?”

“Yes, I am.”

Jalen shook his head. “Bad idea. There’s tons of them down there. You’ll be riddled with laser holes before you even land.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“Actually, yes, I do. There’s another way down there, a tunnel that hopefully they don’t know about. We sneak in through there.”

\-----------------

“Alright. Secret tunnel through the mountain. You can leave now, Jalen.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“What? No, you’re not.”

“I have to go with you. Just in case there’s a trap or something. I might be able to disable it.”

Allura eyed him dubiously, but Keith’s words were still echoing in her head. “Alright. Come on, then.”

They were only a few feet down the hallway when there was a sizzling sound. Jalen yelped, slamming his eyes shut and putting a hand over Allura’s.

“Close your eyes!”

Allura complied, and a bright light pressed on her eyelids.

“What _is_ that?”

“Brightlight. It’s a really strong light, you can’t look in it for too long, it’ll blind you. I’m willing to bet that this hallway is full of booby traps, and they way behind us probably is too.”

“What’re we supposed to do?!”

“Well, the Galra accounted only for the thought that anyone coming down this way would stumble blindly into the traps.”

“And?”

“And there’s probably a shutoff switch at the other end of the hallway.”

“So, what? We stumble down the hallway and hope one of us makes it?”

“No. I’m going to direct you through the hallway.”

“How’re you going to-”

Jalen screamed, and Allura almost opened her eyes.

“Jalen, what-”

“Ah-ah-ah-” Jalen grunted in pain. “Okay! I opened my eyes, I can see everything.”

“Won’t you-”

“Yes. I’m going to direct you now. Do _exactly_ what I say. Move three steps to the left.” He waited a couple of seconds. “Alright, duck.”

“What?”

“Duck!”

Allura ducked, and felt something heavy swing over her head.

“Okay. Sprint. All out sprint for ten feet. No matter what you hear, sprint.”

Allura obliged, but heard something snapping behind her. She almost faltered.

“Keep going Allura! Don’t stop! Then jump, as far as you can, hands outstretched.”

“ _What_?!”

“There’s a pit, but you should be able to jump to the edge and hold on. Just- ah!”

“What?!”

“They- the brightness- it intensified- I’ll be okay! Keep going!

“Are you-”

“Keep going!”

Allura kept sprinting, keeping track of her distance in her mind. When she reached ten feet, she leaped, flying through the air, sailing, sailing…

She slammed _hard_ into a ledge and grabbed onto it, yanking herself up the ledge.

“Alright! Three steps to the right!”

She obliged.

“Reach out!”

Allura reached out, and her fingers snagged a lever, which she held onto tightly.

“Pull it all the way down.”

Allura did, and the brightness outside her eyes dimmed.

“You can open your eyes now.”

Allura turned around with a triumphant smile.

“We did- Jalen!”

Jalen had fallen to his knees, blinking rapidly and wincing. Allura carefully made her way through the traps that were now as plain as day and knelt at his side.

“Jalen, what’s wrong?”

“Allura, I can’t see! I can’t see- sun above, I can’t see!”

“Stay calm, don’t panic-”

“Allura, I’m blind! I can’t- I- Allura, please, I can’t-”

“Jalen, calm down!”

“Allura! I can’t see! I can’t- I can’t-” He broke down, panting and shuddering.

“Jalen, calm down, _please_!”

He looked up at the ceiling, laughing now. “Oh- is this what they meant? Is this what was said? That I’d never see her again- Words, words, tricky words, their meaning fickle.” He rocked back and forth, giggling to himself.

Allura bit her lip. He was evidently going into shock, so she reached out and slapped him across the face.

It was a simple act, only meant to snap him out of shock, but it had a much, _much_ worse effect on him than she could’ve imagined.

He immediately curled into a ball, whimpering, and Allura inwardly cursed at herself- how could she have been so stupid- he’d even _said_ it, that people had hurt him for being Galra, that they’d hit him, and here she was, _slapping_ him.

“Please,” he mumbled, “I didn’t do anything, don’t hurt me, _please_.”

White-hot anger blazed through Allura like a wildfire. Jalen hadn’t had a family. He hadn’t had a proper childhood. He’d been shunned by _everyone_ , by the Galra for not being enough of a Galra, by the natives for being too much Galra. He’d been mistreated, and now he was risking _everything_ to help save this planet, this planet that had been nothing but cruel to him, and after this was done, the natives would _still_ shun him. They’d praise Voltron for all their great work, and they’d treat Jalen exactly the same. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t _right_.

“Jalen, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m sorry. Please, come with me.”

Jalen turned his face towards her, expression untrusting, and her heart broke at the sadness and pain behind those blind eyes. That sadness and pain that had, for a while, disappeared from Keith’s eyes, after he left the Galra for what he had thought was forever, but had recently begun to haunt his face again. That sadness and pain that she could see in a mirror, when she let her diplomat face drop, when she let her determined façade tumble.

“Jalen, I promise I won’t hurt you. Remember Pidge?”

Jalen’s gaze softened. “Pidge. I like Pidge. Pidge is nice. Also, she smells like flowers.”

Allura choked. “She what?!”

“Kind of faint. I have a strong nose. I can smell a rainstorm coming.”

“That’s a little… odd.”

“Pretty sure all half-Galra can do it.”

“Well, Keith has… wisely decided to keep that particular talent to himself. Anyway, we need to get moving if we’re going to save Pidge.”

“Right. Um, Allura?”

“Yes?”

“Uh- Well- I can’t see. Do you think- I don’t know- you know-”

Allura took his hand. “It’s alright, Jalen. It would be my _honor_ to lead you.”

\-----------------

Pidge squinted suspiciously at the door, which was rattling on its hinges. She was going to _kill_ those Galra bastards. After they’d _teleported_ her out of the hospital, they’d left her bayard _in the same room as her_ , but she was chained to the wall and unable to get it. Bastards.

The door busted open, Allura standing in it as the perfect image of a paladin, heroic looking and everything about her perfect. Pidge almost wanted to throw up. But when she looked behind Allura…

“Jalen? What are _you_ doing here?!”

“Going blind, apparently,” he said with a shrug.

“It appears that Galra have a very strong sense of smell,” Allura commented as she undid Pidge’s bonds, “You smell like flowers.”

“Excuse me, what?!”

“His words, not mine, I assure you.”

“Wait, backtrack, _blind_?!”

“Uh- I- uh- I kind of stared at a bright light for too long.

Pidge threw her arms around Jalen the instant she was out of the chains. “You idiot! What’d you go and do _that_ for? Doesn’t matter, it’ll probably be okay, you probably are only temporarily blind.” She spoke mostly to assure herself. She had no idea if he would be fine; they’d know in a couple of hours.

“Wow. You know, Allura, I didn’t think you’d be on board with, well, you know, you’re pretty anti-Galra…”

Allura coughed. “Well. I may have been under… extreme peer pressure.

“Yeah? Can’t say I’m surprised.”

Allura blushed ashamedly. “Jalen had proven that he is reliable and a good person. I can put my trust in him.”

Jalen blinked a couple of times in surprise. “Wait, really?!”

Allura dipped her head, forgetting he couldn’t see. “Of course. Keith, we’ve got Pidge. We’re on our way out, the tracker is set. You can get to the lions now.”

“You’ve got Keith on standby?”

“Of course. There’s no time to lose; every moment this base is here, the planet is in more and more danger. I’d say we have about thee-hundred ticks to get out.”

Pidge gulped. “Better start running.”

\-----------------

“Alright, Allura, I’ve got a visual on you. Dropping off.”

The blue lion landed with a _thud_ in front of them, the black lion flying away.

“What…”

“The black lion carried Blue here so that we could get away safely.”

“Wow. You guys really thought this one out, didn’t you?”

Allura smiled. “The lion drop-off was Hunk’s idea. This whole operation was a team effort, even if Jalen and I were the only ones here.”

\----------------

Keith shot out of the mouth of his lion, grinning.

“We did it! Their whole base is a smoking pile of rubble!”

Allura jumped. Keith’s eyes were glowing yellow. That was odd. When they’d been back on Earth, his eyes had been a sickly yellow and hadn’t glowed. She wondered whether different emotions brought out different colors and degrees of glowing.

Allura gestured vaguely towards Keith’s face. “Um, Keith, uh, your eyes…”

He drooped and some of the glowing faded. “Oh. Sorry.” He held up a hand to his visor. “I don’t know how to stop it, I didn’t even know they were-”

Allura gently took his hand and brought it down, smiling. “No. It looks fine.”

He hesitantly smiled back, and then caught sight of Jalen, a doctor and Pidge, all immersed in deep conversation. The doctor shook his head, and Pidge started to argue with him. He just shook his head some more and walked away. Allura and Keith approached Jalen and Pidge, who wiped a tear away.

“The doctor says… the doctor says it’s permanent. There’s nothing we can do.”

Keith cocked his head to one side. “Nothing we can do for what?”

Pidge closed her eyes, tears seeping from the corners of her eyelids. “Jalen went blind, down there in the tunnels, and… it’s permanent.”

Keith felt his veins turn to ice. This was his fault. He’d sent Jalen down there, he’d told Allura to take him. Jalen was blind because of him.

He’d pushed too hard, he shouldn’t’ve… Jalen had just- looking at Jalen had been like looking in a warped mirror. Shunned. Pushed away. Hurt because of his heritage, just on the opposite side of the spectrum. Jalen had just wanted to be loved, accepted, and every blow was a blow to his heart. He’d only wanted to give Jalen a chance. A chance to be the hero, if only to Pidge. A chance to prove he was more than his blood.

And now he was blind.

_All my fault._

“No,” he said out loud, “I’m not accepting that. That’s not going to happen.”

“Keith, he’s _blind_. We can’t fix that, even if we put him in a cryo pod.”

“Tyesha. She healed Shiro. She can heal this, I _know_ she can.”

“But what if she can’t?”

Keith slammed his fist on a table. “She _has_ to! Allura, open a wormhole, we’re going back to Tyesha’s planet.”

\--------------------

Pidge shot down in her lion to the surface of the jungle planet, Jalen in the seat behind her. Her heart was frantic, racing. Tyesha _had_ to be able to fix this. She _had_ to! She’d even told Pidge- back on their first visit- She had been telling Pidge about this, Pidge was sure of it.

_“Pidge. You can’t save everyone. You have to learn that.” Tyesha smiled. “But if you truly try, you can save what matters.”_

“Alright, we’re coming in, Pidge, can you see Tyesha’s tree?”

“Loud and clear.”

“Alright, Tlatoani told me how to bypass the paths by going directly to Tyesha’s tree, but aircraft are too big to land in there.”

“So how do we get in?”

“We jump. Tlatoani told me, it’s a leap of faith. Trust that Tyesha will catch us.”

“That sounds risky.”

“Do you want Jalen to have to stumble along a potentially dangerous path blind?”

“Good point. Okay. What about the lions?”

“I’ve got Hunk, Lance and Allura on standby. When we jump, they’ll grab the lions. Ready?”

“No.”

“Alright, go!”

Pidge grabbed Jalen and jumped out of the lion, freefalling towards the planet below. The forest seemed to… grow towards them, gently plucking them out of the air and depositing them carefully on the ground in front of Tyesha’s tree. Tlatoani opened her eyes from where she was sitting on the ground, running to them.

“Keith! Pidge!”

She wrapped her arms around them.

“What are you guys doing here? And, uh, who’s that behind you? I mean, I can see who he is, but introductions would be nice.”

“Huh? Oh, Jalen, this is Tlatoani. Tlatoani, Jalen. Tlatoani, where’s Tyesha?”

“In her tree. She’s not doing too well. Zarkon’s starting to stir, and that is darkening the forest.” She stared at him, her eyes boring holes in him as if she was looking into his soul. “You’ve changed, Keith. You’ve gotten older.”

“I- I don’t know-””

Tlatoani clapped her hands. “Now then. What are you here for?”

“We need Tyesha. Jalen is… uh, he kind of went blind, and we need her help.”

“Jalen, put your hand on the tree.”

Pidge gently guided him to the now-diseased tree and put his palm to it. Like it had when the paladins had touched it, the tree burst into bloom, the disease dropping away like nothing had ever happened to it. Tyesha melted from the tree.

“Oh, you _are_ a sweet one, aren’t you? I like y- Goodness, are they _always_ hurt when you bring them?”

Pidge caught Jalen when he dropped to the ground. Tyesha shook her head.

“Why, by all the stars, would you drag him out on mission when he was injured like that?! Being trampled by horses is no joke! You could’ve _killed_ him doing that!”

“Sorry,” Keith mumbled.

“Oh! Hello, Keith! I didn’t know- okay, well, I did in the back of my mind, but honestly, I can’t keep track of every single thing, can I?”

Pidge blinked. “Isn’t that your job?”

Tyesha laughed. “Ha. Job. Child, I’ve been here since the universe began. I don’t have a ‘job,’ I’m just stuck here.”

“Wait, you created the universe?”

“Oh, no, I didn’t create it, I was created with it. Someone else did all the creating.”

“Who?”

Tyesha shrugged. “I don’t know. Not someone I can track.”

Jalen coughed and sat up. “Ugh. What…”

“Jalen, can you see?!”

“Uh, no. Should I be able to?”

Pidge turned back to Tyesha accusingly. “Why can’t he see?! Can’t you heal him?!”

Tyesha shook her head sadly. “Katie, there are things that I just cannot do. It’s not my choice, but some things are just not meant to be.”

“No!” Keith stomped towards Tyesha, his bayard in hand. “You _have_ to heal him! You can’t just leave him blind!”

“Keith, I can’t heal every wound. What would be the point of sacrifice? Even if I did, healing Jalen would not help him.”

“I can’t believe you! You can’t just- I can’t believe you would- Heal him! NOW!”

Tyesha’s eyes sparked with anger, her body swelling up to twice her original size. Her voice got darker, booming in the now-quiet forest.

“Paladin, do not think to order me around. It is not my place in this universe to right every wrong and heal every wound. I cannot be the solution, my place is merely to watch the journey and remember the fallen. Do not think I am the answer to your problems, you must solve them yourself.”

She shrank down to her normal size, Keith staring at her with his eyes as wide as saucers. He’d been scared plenty of times, sure, but that had been a different kind of scary. She could’ve smashed him like a bug if she’d wanted to; Tyesha was _not_ someone he wanted to mess with.

“Keith, please, understand. Sometimes, things get hard, and I want to help. I really do. But I shouldn’t. You have free will, you control your own destiny. If I interfere, well, I could probably wipe out the Galra, win this war for you. But that is not right. I could just take away everyone’s free will and make the universe a peaceful utopia, but all creatures were given free will to use it. I won’t take it away.”

Keith lowered his head. “I- I understand.”

“Good. Jalen can stay here. He’ll be safe here with me and Tlatoani. But you two have a universe to save. So go. Save it. I’ll see you soon.”

\------------------

Lotor waved a hand at the messenger who knelt before him. “Speak.”

“My Lord Lotor, Queen Merla has arrived and wishes to see you.”

Lotor smiled. His day was getting better and better. The loss on that planet of bird people was no terrible thing. It was a worthless planet anyway. But a visit from Merla? That made up for the loss of _any_ planet.

“Send her in.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hold everything, I need to know where the generals are. The general consensus for killing Keith was no. You three people who voted, you probably just saved Keith's life.

“Wait, your eyes glow different colors for different moods?”

“Look- Pidge- I don’t-”

“That’s like, really cool though! Is brightness associated with how strong each emotion is? Do they turn different colors, or just shades of yellow? There are so many scientific anomalies here, I could spend years trying to figure it all out. Show me!”

“Pidge, I can’t do it on demand. What was it Coran said? Only during times of high emotion. So, when I’m really angry or happy-”

“So,” Lance interrupted “All we have to do is make Keith angry!” He activated his bayard in rifle form and nudged Keith with the barrel.

“Alright, stop it!”

Lance jumped away, arms over his head protectively.

Pidge sighed exasperatedly. “Keith, you have to cooperate if we’re going to-”

“Stop it! Pidge, I’m not a science experiment! Go find someone else to be your lab rat!”

Allura clapped her hands before Pidge could respond. “Paladins! We’ve recently received word that a massive Galra attack is planned on the remaining stronghold of planet Tahsildar. We need to warn the defenders there and provide aid.”

“Do we know if we’re dealing with… uh… any issues with maybe…”

Keith sighed. “Spit it out Hunk. I know you’re all thinking it. Are they going to shoot at us because I’m purple.”

“Uh- well-”

“It’s okay, guys. I’m fine with it. I’ll just always keep my visor on and stand at a distance.”

“Are you sure they won’t notice?”

“Only if they’ve got binoculars.”

\-------------------

Keith took the black lion down for a landing. They’d been unable to contact anyone, and had decided to land the lions on the planet.

A loud _crack_ echoed through the black lion, and Keith’s screen fizzled out.

“What the- guys, something’s hit my lion’s eyes, I don’t have visuals anymore!”

“Rifle shot. Excellent marksman. Hard shot to make, especially from the ground. Would have to be a good rifle too, high quality.”

“Lance, stop fangirling!”

“Right, Keith, I’ll walk you through the landing, just trust me- Ah!”

“Allura? Allura, what happened?!”

“They’ve hit me too! I can’t see a thing!”

“Guys, I’ve lost visuals, the yellow lion is blind!”

“Pidge! Lance! Get out of here! They’ve prepared for us, and I’m willing to bet that they’re not friendly!”

“No can do, Keith. My screen just went dead. Lance, fly out while you still-”

“Too late. Either there’s more than one shooter, or whoever is shooting is _excellent_ at firing quick rounds. We’re just going to have to fly blind and hope for the best.”

They thankfully managed to land the lions without an incident, and they all examined the eyes of their lions. Sure enough, there was a spiderweb of cracks in each eye.

“We cannot fly the lions in this state. Keith, should I call Coran?”

Keith shook his head. “No. It they can take out the lions, I don’t want to risk them getting the only operational ship we have. We’re going to have to fix this ourselves.”

“How?”

“Maybe we can ask the people in the fort for help.”

“Keith, they just shot at us!”

“Maybe they were just unsure if we were friendly or not. It can’t hurt to try.”

“Yes, it can,” Hunk muttered, “They could kill us or tie us up or-”

A shot rang out, and Keith flinched backwards, activating his shield as a laser blasted the ground at his feet.

“Not a step closer,” a girl’s voice warned, “or I’ll blast your brains out. You’re not welcome here.”

Lance tracked the voice of the speaker to a high ledge. A good sniping position, and from the looks of it, she had a good sniping weapon. He glanced warily at Keith.

“We’re not with the Galra,” Lance called, “We promise.”

Keith frowned unhappily.

The voice sounded confused now. “Why would I think you were-” the figure fumbled for a pair of binoculars. “Huh. I guess he _is_ purple. Well. It doesn’t matter if you’re with the Galra or not, you’re not welcome here!”

Allura stepped forward. “Please, my name is Princess Allura of Altea. We’re here to help.”

“Yeah, sure, I haven’t heard _that_ before. Look, I don’t care what title Jaren calls you, I’m not going to let you in. You’re no princess of mine.”

“Who’s Jaren?”

“The person dedicated to trying to- oh, never mind. If you’re not with him, and you’re not with the Galra, then you’re for yourselves or for the people of Tahsildar, which is almost worse. Just get out of here.”

“We came to warn you. The Galra are planning a massive invasion; you’ll be wiped out.”

“I highly doubt that. I’ve fought off invasions before.”

“Listen, let us speak to the leader of your base, maybe we can negotiate with the other fighters-”

“Other fighters? Leader? What are you _talking_ about? It’s just me, myself and I. I’m the sole defender, and I’m not leaving this spot.”

“Please, let us help you.”

“Get out of here.”

“We can’t. You damaged our ships.”

“Huh. I guess I did.” She seemed to consider this for a moment. “Alright. I’m coming down. I have things you can use to repair your ships, and then I want you to leave.”

“What about the Galra?”

They heard the sound of a rifle being cocked. “Don’t worry about them.

\--------------

Their attacker was a young girl named Natasha. She had turquoise skin and pointy teeth, her hair a darker shade of turquoise. Lance fell instantly in love. Pretty _and_ a good shooter, he had found his dream!

“I’m Lance. So, hey, what-”

“I’m not interested.”

“Sorry, what?”

“I know your type, and I’m not interested.”

“You haven’t ever met anyone like me. I’m one of a kind.”

“Mmhm.”

“So, whose side of the fight are you on?”

“The side of the innocent.”

“So… not the Galra?”

“Not the Galra, but hardly on any planet’s side.”

“But most of the planets are-”

“Innocent? Let me tell you, loverboy, most of them are just as guilty as the Galra. They might not go around conquering the universe, but most are greedy, selfish and blind to those in need. They take what they need to survive without a thought to the unfortunate.”

“Not all people-”

“Tell me, how often do you go back to the planets you free?”

“Fairly often.”

“What do they do with the leftover Galra?”

“Uh, I don’t-”

“And what about the half-breeds? What happens to them?”

“Well, we just met one- he was nice- and he wasn’t treated… well, they weren’t very nice to him, let me say. But that’s not how it is everywhere I’m sure.”

“That _is_ how things are everywhere, Lance. Half-breeds everywhere are treated like trash by both races. And their lives might not be perfect while the Galra are on planet, but they get even worse when the Galra leave. Every time you ‘free’ a planet, you doom their lives to eternal misery. The least you could’ve done is taken the half-Galra with you and saved them the pain of what they face with those people. But you didn’t. You turned a blind eye.”

“Hey, we don’t turn a blind eye! We went back to our home planet, and they attacked Keith- he’s half Galra- and we got him away!”

“Would you have noticed was he not your teammate?”

Lance avoided her eyes. “Well…”

Natasha shook her head. “This is the _real_ problem with the universe. Good people trying to right the universe but not paying attention to the small things.”

Lance frowned. “Wait. You said you were the only defender. What’re you defending it for?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“I bet I can figure it out.”

“Please don’t.”

Lance tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Let’s see… you’re the sole defender on an otherwise-occupied planet. You fight for what you call the ‘innocent’ and are very mistrusting of any race on either side of the war spectrum. You’re also very insistent that I realize what happens to the half-breeds after I leave. Ipso facto, and by the transitive property of equality, you’re hiding a bunch of half-breeds from both sides here!

Natasha sighed. “Yes.”

“Jaren… Jaren… I’m assuming he wants them for slave labor or something? Easy pickings, potentially with Galra strength?”

Natasha shuddered. “Worse. He wants them for ‘scientific’ reasons, which I’m guessing will probably end with their organs in jars.”

“So, what, you take in all of the half-breeds in the universe?”

“No, no. There’s other places like these, run by some older half-breeds, escaped slave pets of Lotor mostly. Zethrid. Narti. Axca. Ezor. This particular base is for the… special cases.”

“Special cases?” Lance echoed, his face drawn up in concern, “Like… what do you qualify as a ‘special case’?”

“They’ve all been so traumatized by what happened to them that they can barely think straight when a stranger enters a room. They don’t want to leave, some of them don’t even respond to me and it takes all of my willpower to keep them alive. Others are incredibly clingy and don’t want to leave me for a second. Loud noises bring on panic attacks and most are distrusting of even a new child. Some of them are just too young for the others to handle. I had to rescue most of them.”

“Rescue?”

Natasha lowered her head. “In most cases, the natives are happy to see them go, will send them off, don’t care what we do with them. Those are the ones that the others take care of, the ones that just didn’t have a family and were living on the streets. A few of mine came from Galra ships. But in the places where most of these come from… they are twisted with hatred and keep the poor kids around to abuse them. You’re from Earth, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“You know what bear baiting was?”

Lance shuddered. “Chaining a bear up and shoving cats and dogs at it to see which dies first, or poking at it yourself? Yeah, I’ve heard of it.”

“Some did that to my kids. They have the scars to prove it. The Galra on those planets don’t lift a finger to stop them unless it gets too rowdy for them. And those people… they aren’t too happy when I try to take the kids away. I’ve had to unchain more kids and make more daring sneak raids on slave camps than I care to count. And I’m not afraid to bust a few heads on those raids.”

“So, are we going to meet the kids?”

“Sun above, no! I’m helping you fix your ships and getting you out of here!”

“What about the Galra?”

“I’ll fight them off. I always do.”

“But this is a massive _army_ , not a few raiding parties! You can’t fight off that many! Even if you can, some of them will probably still get in, and then who _knows_ what they’ll do to the kids!”

Natasha patted his cheek. “You’re very sweet to be concerned, Lance, but none of the Galra are going to get in here.”

“And if they do?” Lance persisted, “Then what? There’ll be nobody to stop them from taking the children, and they’ll kill you and-”

“Lance, I can’t move these kids! Most of them will have a mass panic attack!”

“Better a panic attack than, oh, you know, _death_!”

“Well, what do _you_ think is a better option than moving them?!”

“Let us fight with you!”

“That’s not my decision.”

“What?! Of _course_ it’s your decision! Why _wouldn’t_ it be your decision?! You’re the only one here!”

“No. It’s the kids’ decision.”

“What?!”

“They’re already uncomfortable enough with me defending them; if someone they didn’t know and trust started fighting for them, they’d go into conniptions; they’d probably think that you were trying to steal the fortress for yourself.” She gazed mournfully at Lance. “I think your heart is in the right place, Lance, I really do. But I have to think of them first.”

“I know. Maybe… could we meet them? I’m good with kids, maybe…”

Natasha eyed him doubtfully. “We can give it a try.”

\--------------------

“Natasha, Natasha, you’re okay!”

Lance smiled as a little girl (or he assumed it was a girl) ran up and leaped on Natasha, others following, some more conserved than their wilder counterparts.

“Of course I’m okay! I took some shots at the ships, and _bam_ , I win! Oof, Shauna, you’re getting heavy!”

“You just picked me up before you left!”

“Did you get into the food again?” Natasha teased, “You know you can’t eat too much.”

“I didn’t get into the food now _or_ last time!”

“Mmm. Right. Kids, I’d like you to meet Lance, and, uh, his friends.”

The kids all froze, noticing Lance and the other paladins for the first time. Then one of them screamed, and about half of them followed his lead, running for the nearest hiding place. The other half just stood, stock still, with their eyes wide as if hoping that if they didn’t move no one would notice them. Shauna dug her little claws into Natasha’s skin, making the older girl wince.

“Guys, it’s okay! They’re here to help us! Take off your helmets,” she ordered from the side of her mouth, “You’re scaring them.”

Each of the paladins took off their helmets, and some of the kids screamed again when Keith took off his. Keith frowned, obviously disturbed.

Shauna, however, slipped out of Natasha’s arms and poked at Keith wonderingly.

“You’re purple. But you’re not Galra. Your eyes are all wrong, and you don’t have furry ears.”

“Yeah,” Keith agreed, “I’m all wrong.”

She giggled, and then poked Lance. “You’re not Galra. But you’re not like anything else, either. Are you genetic anomalamities?”

“Shauna! That’s not nice! And the word is anomalies.”

“That’s what I said. Anomalamities. Well? Are you?”

“Nope. Just human.”

“It’s okay, guys,” Shauna called, “They’re just hu-mans!” She seemed very proud of herself, for knowing what they were. “What’s a human?”

“Uh- well- we’re- well- _we’re_ humans. Except Allura. She’s Altean.”

“And Mr. Purple Skin. Or do humans have purple skin?”

“Uh, nope, he’s half Galra.”

“Like _me_!” she trilled. “It’s okay, guys! Come out! It’s just another half-Galra like us! But _bigger_!”

Some of the kids poked their heads out of hiding places, and others started hugging the frozen ones, speaking reassuringly to them, telling them that these were just hu-mans, and that was it.

“What’re you doing here?!”

“Uh, we’re here to help.”

Shauna frowned. “Help with what? We have Natasha, and we have her friend.”

“Friend?”

Shauna nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! The rock lady! She’s _super_ nice, but she’s sad. She was all hurt when she got here, but I fixed her!”

“Oh, you did, did you?”

Shauna nodded proudly. “Yup! All by myself!”

Hunk started, his face a mask of shock. “Did- did you say rock lady?”

“Uh-huh. Weren’t you listening?!”

“Where is she?!”

“Hunk?”

Lance turned to see a, well, a rock lady with glowing eyes come in the doors.

“Shay!”

“I found her on a collapsing Balmera,” Natasha explained, “My ship only had enough room for one, and they begged me to take her.”

“And then I fixed her,” Shauna said again, “All by myself!”

By now, the other children had gotten over their shock and were swarming the paladins, although most kept a healthy distance and were still eyeing them warily.

“They’re _weird_.”

“No they’re not,” Shauna argued loyally, “They’re just different!”

The kids all eyed the paladins and started whispering to each other, Shauna included. They glanced over occasionally, and then all turned to face the paladins. One little boy who looked to be half Arusian stepped forward.

“We’ve decided,” he announced, “that you are weird looking, except you.” He pointed to Keith. “You look normal, but everybody else is weird.”

“Congratulations,” Lance whispered to Keith, “That is the first and last time anyone will ever say that to you.”

Keith glared at him. Nearby, Hunk and Shay were talking in low tones, Shay shaking her head and… was she crying? Lance shook his head. Who knew what was going on? He decided to ignore it.

“Lance! Lance, can you hear me?” Coran’s voice echoed from the blue helmet, lying forgotten on the ground.

Lance retrieved his helmet from where he’d set it down and tapped the com.

“I’m here, Coran, what’s wrong?”

“Thank goodness! None of the other paladins were responding!”

Lance glanced over at Hunk, who was still talking to Shay, and Allura was talking to Natasha. His eyes traveled to Keith and Pidge, Keith with an uncomfortable expression on his face as the kids poked at his canines, Pidge asking questions about the little half-galra’s DNA and abilities.

“Yeah, they’re a little busy. What do you need?”

“You don’t have much time! The Galra are going to attack in two vargas!”

Lance’s blood chilled, and it must have showed on his face, because all the children started asking him if he was okay. He swallowed.

“Are- are you sure, Coran?”

“Yes! And their army… it’s huge! Are the lions still down?”

“’Fraid so.”

“Well, you better fix them, fast, because there’s no way the five of you can beat them in hand-to-hand combat, skilled as you are.”

“Alright. I’ll get Pidge and Hunk on it.” He turned the com off. “Guys! We need to fix those lions, stat!”

The other paladins looked up from where they were talking, or, in Keith’s case, having every inch of them prodded by tiny hands.

“What’s wrong?”

“That, ah, issue? We’ve got two hours, tops. And there’s a _lot_ more than expected. Apparently, the only way we can resolve this is if we have some working lions.”

Keith nodded. “Alright. Pidge, Hunk, get to work on those eyes. Allura, you and I will work on ground defenses. Lance, Natasha-”

“Whoa, there, soldier boy. I’m not under your command. I’ve got to watch over the kids.”

“But Shay is here. She can watch the kids, and you and Lance can work on long-range defense. Artillery or something. That okay?”

Natasha glared a moment. “Fine,” she spat, “But don’t get any jacked-up notions that you’re in any way in charge of me.”

“I… wasn’t…”

Natasha flipped her hair over her shoulder. “C’mon, Lance.”

Keith looked like he wanted to make a comment about how Lance wasn’t under Natasha’s command, but wisely refrained. Lance followed Natasha out the door.

“Whoa. You kind of… blew up in there.”

“I don’t like people giving me orders.”

“Got it. Any reason why?”

“I was in the army. They drilled us hard. Everything was hard. And I was discriminated against.”

“Because you’re a woman?”

“No, what kind of jacked-up place would discriminate on that? They discriminated because I was a sniper. Most of them preferred hand-to-hand kind of things, that was the way we fought. If you had a gun, you got up close and personal. It was a face-your-enemy-and-watch-them-die kind of thing. And… they forced me to do that. That battle, my first battle… it was mayhem. Bloodbath. Maybe if I’d been far away, shooting them down from a distance- but I wasn’t. I watched my friends die, and we were ordered to retreat. We were ordered to leave the wounded behind. My friend was wounded, and I ignored the orders to drag her out of the fire. The commander was mad. _Really_ mad. He ordered me to shoot her.”

“No…”

“I said no, I refused, so he did it himself. I went ballistic and attacked him. Almost got killed, and I was thrown out of the military.” She pulled her sleeve up to show a tattoo that simply said, _worthless_. “This is what they did. I also have a brand that says I was dishonorably discharged, and that’s when I said screw this and left.”

“How’d you end up here? Watching kids?”

“Happy fate. I ran into a bunch of half-breeds and we made this.”

“Ran into?”

“Lotor’s pet half-breeds. I rescued them.”

“Did- did you see Keith there?”

“No. Should I have?”

“He- um- well- he was- he was kind of Lotor’s pet half-breed for ten years.”

Natasha clapped a hand to her mouth. “No… Moons and stars, I can’t believe I was so- Sun above, I’m so sorry! I wish I could’ve helped him! As for the others… I… well… I rescued them a pretty long time ago. Probably about ten years ago.”

“Wait, what, how old are you?!”

“I don’t know, somewhere in the 17-20 range.”

“You were in the military at age _seven_?!”

She gave him an odd look. “Yeah. Of course. Isn’t how that’s how it’s done on Earth.”

“No! Child soldiering- no.”

“You’re hardly more than a child, and yet you have the safety of the universe resting on your shoulders.”

“Yeah, but-”

Natasha held her hands up. “Hey, I agree. Turning children into soldiers is despicable. It’s horrible. But we live in horrible times. Lance, I want you to promise me something.”

“What?”

“If… If I don’t get out of this, don’t let those kids get hurt. Don’t let them become soldiers. Protect them; keep them away from the war.”

“You’re going to make it out. We all are.”

Natasha gripped his arm. “Promise me!”

“I- I promise.”

She released him. “Thank you. I’m probably just being paranoid. You’re right. We’re going to make it out.”

“That’s the spirit. So, wait, you were only seven when you started this?”

Natasha laughed, the sound clearing the tension. “No, the next eight years were the girls and I dodging Galra ships and trying to get their tracking chips out. Then we found some half-Galra being mistreated, rescued them and out we went. The others went to find any half-Galra they could, and they would send special cases to me. Shauna’s been here the longest- she was in the first group- she’s been here since age three.”

“What happened to the others in the first group?”

“Most were older when we found them and just left when they felt they were ready.” Natasha’s voice was sad. “They kept in contact for a while, but a few months ago… they stopped. I don’t know what went wrong. But Shauna… Shauna’s special.”

“Sure. You said these kids were all special cases.”

“No, she’s _special_ , she’s… she notices things that we don’t. Sometimes I could _swear_ she reads my mind. She’s always right there when you want her, and also when you don’t want her but you need her. It’s the little things she does. You don’t think much of them until you stop to think about it.”

“Sounds like… I’ve got this friend… uh, well, she’s intuitive. She’s- well- she’s kind of like Shauna, I guess. She’s also a legitimate mind reader, but, well, yeah. Maybe- I don’t know- the two could be related?”

“Possibly.” Natasha re-adjusted the trajectory on a cannon. “I think we’re done here. We can go back now.” She sighed. “And I should probably apologize to Keith for snapping at him.”

\-------------

“You’re sure you won’t move the kids?”

“Keith, I told you, I’m sure. They’ll panic.”

“What about-”

“If need be, we can hide them, but I won’t relocate them.”

“Alright. I just want to be sure the Galra can’t get their hands on them. Pidge, Hunk, how’re those lions coming?”

“Just the red lion left.”

“Hold it, paladins, I’m afraid you don’t have time to fix the red lion. The Galra are already on their way; you need to prepare for battle.”

“You’re sure, Coran?”

“Completely. Four lions will have to be enough.”

“They won’t be,” Allura said grimly, “Look.”

Out the window there were _ten_ Galra cruisers with ion cannons. Lance’s heart sank to the pit of his stomach.

“There’s no _way_ we can beat all of those with four lions. Maybe if we had Voltron, but with what we’ve got? No chance.”

“No,” Natasha murmured, “they can’t…”

The paladins heard a screech from the other room.

“It’s the Galra!”

Sound of panic and crying emanated from the other room.

“Natasha, I know you don’t want to, but-”

Natasha nodded. “We _have_ to.”

Keith nodded shortly. “Coran, change of plans. We need a pod down here to get these kids out of the way.”

“Any pod will be blasted to pieces!”

“We’ll distract the cruisers. You just get down here. Lance, I’m going to need you to help get the kids through. From the sounds of it, some of them are… not great.”

Natasha blinked away a couple of tears. “Some of them are going to have to be sedated. I hate doing it, but they’ll accidentally hurt themselves, or someone else- and I don’t want them to suffer.”

“Got it. I’ll calm them down as much as I can, you grab the sedatives.”

Keith nodded. “Alright. Everybody else, get to the lions!”

Lance shoved his way through the doorway, which had been blocked, probably by the panicked children inside.

“Hey- guys- It’s me! Lance! Come on!”

“Lance, Lance, please, help!”

“I’m coming Shauna!”

“It’s Jadish! He’s trying to jump out of the window!”

Lance cursed, hoping the kids couldn’t hear it, and shoved the door open. He quickly caught the young half-Arusian, pulling him away from the window.

“Let me go! They can’t! I won’t let them!”

“Calm down, please, Jadish, I’m not going to let them get you!”

“Let me go, let me go, let me _go_!”

Jadish bit down on Lance’s hand, _hard_ , and Lance let go as the child’s unusually sharp canines went right into his hand.

“Ow!”

By now, Shauna had managed to get close, and she put her hands on Jadish’s head.

“Shh,” she murmured, “You’re going to be okay.”

He seemed to calm down at her touch, and she turned to Lance.

“Oh, ouch.” She gently touched the bite marks, and they instantly healed.

“Shauna, you- this-”

She groaned. “I _told_ you I fixed Shay all by my _self_!”

“Oh. Yes. Yes, you did.”

Natasha swooped in. “Okay, kids, we’re going to have to leave.”

“Leave?”

“Leave where?”

“Why?!”

“I don’t wanna leave!”

Jadish started screaming, and Natasha looked at him, absolutely heartbroken.

“Jadish, honey, listen, you’re going to be fine.” She gently picked him up, and held him close, hushing him and gently rocking him. He just screamed again, and started to shake.

“He’s having a fit! Shauna, can you-”

Shauna put her hands on his head again, and he passed out. “Sleep,” Shauna mumbled, “It’s the best cure.”

“Kids, please, I’ll answer all of your questions, I _promise_ , but you have to calm down.”

Most of the children seemed to be calmed by the fact that Natasha was there, and most flocked to her, gathered at her waist like a flock of sheep.

“Alright, follow me, Lance, bring up the rear.”

They only made it halfway to the pod.

“Lance.”

“What?”

“I can hear the Galra. The foot soldiers are coming.”

“We can make it.”

“No, we can’t. Lance, I need you to get the kids to the pod.”

“What? No! I can’t get them there, they _need_ you!”

“Lance, you’re a paladin of Voltron. Your team needs _you_. I’ll stay behind, hold them off for as long as I can.”

“They’ll capture you!”

Natasha patted a knife at her belt somberly. “One way or another, I’m not letting the Galra take me.”

“I…”

Natasha gently kissed his forehead before handing Jadish to him. “Go. And don’t blame yourself. None of this is your fault. Just remember your promise.”

_Not your fault._

_Tyesha._

_“Lance, you shouldn’t blame yourself for everything. Every problem in the universe is not your fault.”_

_“But…”_

_“Xavier didn’t blame you. Don’t blame yourself.”_

“I…”

“GO! Kids, follow Lance. He’ll get you where you need to go. Go!”

The kids all flocked to Lance as Natasha turned back to the hallway.

“Where’s Natasha going?”

Lance’s mouth was dry. “She- she’s going to be a hero.”

\---------------

“We can’t keep them here!”

“Why not?”

“Keith, we’re a _war zone_! We can’t keep a bunch of children in a war zone! Half of them are in stasis because they’re panicking about being in a new place! You think they can handle a _war zone_?!

Hunk nodded. “I agree with Lance. But, uh, where are we supposed to put them?”

“Tlatoani can take care of them.”

Lance frowned. “Are you sure, Keith? I mean, I trust her abilities, but we already left Jalen there. Won’t leaving a dozen kids with her be a bit… imposing?”

“Do _you_ have a better option?!”

“No.”

“Okay, then. We’re taking them to Tlatoani. Discussion closed.”

\--------------

Tlatoani groaned. “Keith! I’m not a daycare service!”

“I know, please?”

She glared at him for a moment, and he gave her pleading eyes. She sighed.

“Don’t give me that face, no- rgh. Fine.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah. You can grovel later.”

Jalen looked up from the other side of the clearing. “Keith? Lance? Is Pidge with you?” He sounded so hopeful, Keith hated having to crush his dreams.

“Sorry, Pidge couldn’t make it.”

Jalen visibly drooped.

Meanwhile, Lance was trying to convince the kids to stay and stop clinging to him.

“C’mon. Tlatoani and Shay will take care of you- you can’t stay with us.”

“Why not,” one of the kids complained, “we want to stay!”

“Because we do scary things a lot.”

“C’mon, guys,” Shauna said brightly, “we have lots of trees and stuff!”

“Don’t want trees,” someone else muttered, “Want Natasha.”

Lance knelt down next to the speaker.

“I know. I do too. But right now, Natasha-” his voice cracked. “Natasha’s not here. But she wants you to be safe, and she wants you to be brave. Can you be brave for her?”

The boy puffed up his chest. “I’m _always_ brave!”

Lance ruffled his hair. “ _That’s_ the spirit! Be good.”

“Yes sir!”

“Come _on_ ,” Shauna said impatiently, “We have a forest to explore!”

\------------------

“Shiro. Shirogane. Where are you?”

“Hey, whatcha doing?”

Tlatoani jumped, snapping out of her meditating pose.

“Shauna! I’m busy!”

“Busy doing what?”

“I’m trying to find someone.”

“With your eyes closed?”

“I’m trying to track his thread.”

“How long is that going to take? Jalen isn’t very good at catch.”

“A bad lady cut his thread when she abducted him.”

“Oh. Does the bad lady have a thread?”

“Of course.”

Shauna tilted her head to the side. “Then why don’t you just find the bad lady, and then you can find where she put him?”

Tlatoani blinked twice. “Oh. That’s… a good idea, actually.”

“And then you can find your boyfriend!”

“What?! He’s not my boyfriend! His name is Shiro!”

“Oh. I thought you were looking for Keith.”

Tlatoani made a little choking noise, and Shana skipped away happily. Tlatoani got back in her pose, closing her eyes.

“Haggar,” she murmured, “What are you doing?”

\----------------

“Merla, always a pleasure.”

“Lotor!”

Merla bowed respectfully before approaching the throne.

“I missed you.”

“As did I.”

Merla kissed him. “The colonies are safe. They won’t be rebelling again.”

“Maybe… maybe you can stay now.”

“May the stars allow it.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure Natasha is fine


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nobody gets a break. Ever.

Keith couldn’t sleep.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried, he just _couldn’t_. He’d tried everything he could think of; he’d even gone down the medbay to see if there was anything there to help him sleep. There wasn’t.

Keith wandered down the hallway, setting up a gladiator match. If he wasn’t going to sleep, he might as well train.

He’d accidentally set the level too high, and he mentally cursed to himself as he realized that it was an _incredibly_ strong bot.

“End-”

The staff cracked down on his head. His last thought before sinking into blackness?

 _Hey, maybe I’ll get some sleep now_.

“Keith, have I ever mentioned that you are _ridiculously_ hard to contact?

Keith stared around at the jungle. Tlatoani was sitting in front of him, arms crossed.

“Yeah, I think you did once or twice.”

“Well, it is. Don’t you _ever_ sleep?!”

“I do,” he protested, “You just pick really bad times to contact me! The _entire_ Castle is asleep, why didn’t you contact one of them?!”

Tlatoani started ticking off fingers. “Lance is dreaming about mermaids, Hunk is having a nightmare about the Balmera, you might want to talk to him about that, Pidge is dreaming about her family, Allura is having a really weird dream that for some reason involves her with druid powers, and Coran is having an even weirder dream about mustaches.”

“And?”

“When people are dreaming, it’s harder for me to get in. Supremely annoying. Most of the time I become background noise. So, I was waiting for you to fall asleep and hopefully I would be able to grab you before your brain gave you hallucinations that you call ‘dreams.’ And then you got _knocked out_ by a gladiator and I said close enough.”

“Speaking of which, am I okay out there, or is the stupid thing beating up my unconscious body?”

“It automatically deactivated when you passed out. You need to be more careful.”

“You wanted me for a reason?”

“Oh! Yes! I did! I found Shiro!”

She now had Keith’s full attention. He grabbed her hands, staring her right in the face.

“You’re sure? Where is he?”

Tlatoani chewed her bottom lip, not quite meeting Keith’s eyes. “Well… I did it in a really roundabout way. I tracked down Haggar- did you know her real name is Honerva- and she had some nuts dark thread things that just felt _really_ awful to touch, but I did, and one of them led to what I _think_ might be Shiro.”

“That’s good enough. Where is he?”

“Um. Well.” Tlatoani coughed. “He might be- uh- well-”

“What?”

“HemightbeonHaggarandLotor’sbaselockedupandreallyhardtogetto.”

Keith paled. “Oh.”

“And Zarkon might be waking up. I think Haggar’s making him some kind of supersuit? I don’t know. Just a warning.”

“If Zarkon wakes up and Lotor doesn’t want to give up the throne…”

Tlatoani patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Either that spells some nice chaos in the Galra ranks for you to take advantage of or a massive headache.”

“Great. Of course. How much worse can things get?”

\-----------------

“Merla?”

“Yes, Lotor?”

“I believe Haggar is planning something.”

“Of course she is. She’s got the Champion locked up in her lab, doesn’t she?”

“She what?!”

“The former black paladin. She’s had him for a few months as far as I can tell. Haggar’s got some kind of brain-tampering experiment going on. Calls it ‘operation Kuron.’ Stupid name, if you ask me.” Merla laughed, but Lotor didn’t join in. “What’s wrong, love?”

“This is… not good. She would only keep this a secret from me if she was planning to use him against me.”

“So, stop her. Trap her in a spot where her only choice is to give him to you.”

“Of course. A simple trap. Sometimes simple is the best; you have such good ideas.”

“Mmm. It’s why you love me.”

Lotor smiled, sweeping her into his arms and sharing a passionate kiss. “It’s not the only reason.”

\----------------

“Hold it, wait, hold everything- you’re telling me Zarkon’s just going to pop up, all fine after all the trouble we went through to kill him?! People _died_!”

“I know, Lance, but that’s not the point. The _point_ is that we can get Shiro back.”

Allura shifted uneasily. “I know you want Shiro back, and we all do, but is this really the best idea? I mean, walking directly into Head Command to rescue him is practically offering ourselves to Lotor on a silver platter. Or offering ourselves to Haggar, which is worse.”

“We have a chance to rescue Shiro! We _have_ to take it! Tlatoani didn’t give me his location for us to sit around and do _nothing_!”

“Keith, are you sure getting Shiro back is really what you want?”

“What? O-of course it is! What, you think I want to lead a suicide mission and try to take out Lotor? I’m not stupid enough for _that_!”

Allura’s eyes seemed to penetrate deep into Keith, staring into his soul. “You never wanted to be leader. Is this a desperate grab for the chance to stop being the leader?”

“Wha- no! I didn’t- no! I mean, yeah, Shiro was a better leader than I ever will be, so, yeah, I guess, but I don’t-”

Now Lance was eyeing him suspiciously. “Yeah, Allura’s right. Are you just trying to dodge being the leader?”

“I- no! Look, it doesn’t matter, because Shiro’s our family, and we’re _not_ going to leave him with the Galra! End of story!”

He stormed out of the room angrily, leaving the others behind. Pidge and Hunk both offered some excuse or other and quickly exited, leaving only Lance, Allura and Coran, who almost instantly was off to fix something.

Allura sighed, collapsing into her seat. Lance gave her a concerned look, his brow creased in worry.

“Allura? Are you alright?”

She tried for a smile, but it was weak. “Of course I am, Lance, thank you.”

“Are you sure? You look really…”

“What?”

“…tired,” he said diplomatically. “Is everything okay?”

“Thank you for your concern, Lance, but I really am fine. Maybe- maybe just a quick nap.”

She got out of her chair, tripping as she made her way to the door. Lance lunged forward and caught her.

“Whoa, princess. Easy there.”

“I- I’m sorry- I didn’t mean-”

“Are you sure you’re okay? Have you… have you been sleeping alright?”

“I have been… encountering some odd dreams,” Allura admitted, “But I’m sure that has nothing to do with-”

“Weird dreams? Like what?”

Allura shifted uneasily. “It’s nothing, really, probably just some tainted food, I’m perfectly-”

“ _Allura._ ”

“I have dreams where I have druid powers. I can’t explain it- they’re just dreams.”

Allura pushed herself off of Lance and wobbled towards the door.

“Allura…”

“Lance, please, don’t trouble yourself. I just… need to take a quick rest. Really, it’s fine. I’m sure that this means nothing.”

\--------------

“Coran, are you in place?”

“Yes, I’m ready for an extraction if anything goes wrong.”

“Alright. Hopefully it won’t come to that; in and out, stealthily. Pidge?”

“Aaaaand… okay, everything’s off. In we go.”

The yellow and green lions slid into the hangar, the paladins quickly dispatching the shut-off sentries.

“Alright. Pidge, Hunk, you two stay here. Lance, Allura, you two come with me. According to the scan-”

“I _love_ B.L.I.M.P tech!”

“Yes, thanks, Pidge, according to the scan, the only human on board is here. Pidge, can you put that on everybody’s maps?”

“Sure thing.”

“Okay. We’re going to stick together, but if anything goes wrong, split and meet up here. If you have a chance to get Shiro without high risks, go for it. Pidge, you ready?”

“Of course.”

“Hunk?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright. Let’s go.”

\-------------------

“Halt!”

“Hunk! You said there weren’t any Galra down this hallway!”

“There weren’t any two sec- oh, no. Guys, get out of there, that’s not a normal Galra! That’s a druid!”

Hunk’s warning came too late. The instant the words were coming out of his mouth, the druid was already shooting lightning at them. Allura rolled away; Lance and Keith weren’t so lucky.

A full blast of dark energy caught both boys, slamming them into the opposite wall. The druid moved in for the kill.

“NO!”

Allura full-body rammed the druid, sending him tumbling into the wall. He got out of the wreckage with a snarl, and Allura barely managed to get her shield up in time to block his next strike. She activated her bayard, her whip snaking out to latch around his arm, but she was quickly yanked off-balance, getting herself slammed into a wall as the druid moved his arm in one fluid twist.

“I’ll deal with you in a moment,” he hissed, turning back to Keith and Lance, who were dazedly trying to sit up. “For the Empire!”

A massive ball of glowing energy surrounded his hand, and Allura sat up in the crater that she’d created.

“No!”

She didn’t know what she was hoping for, a miracle, perhaps.

She wasn’t expecting a bolt of energy to shoot out of her hands, striking the druid in the arm. He turned to her with a hiss of annoyance as she stood, glowing with energy.

“I am Princess Allura of Altea, daughter of King Alfor; I stand with his power, and you will leave or be destroyed!”

The druid disappeared, and Allura turned to Keith and Lance, her eyes shining with excitement as the glow bled away.

“Lance! Keith! I’m a druid!”

Their faces… stars, their faces!

Lance was looking at her with an expression that was an odd combination of awe, uncertainty, and maybe a small part of fear.

Keith’s face was just a mask of terror; he was staring at Allura’s hands, which were still sparking with energy, and Allura could tell that he wasn’t seeing _her_ anymore.

Allura mentally face-palmed. How could she have been so _stupid_? She’d been so enraptured by her new powers, so excited by this sense of power flooding through her that she hadn’t even stopped to think- Keith and Lance had both suffered at Haggar’s hands, at her lightning, and she was practically cackling as she threw around bolts of energy!

“Lance, Keith, I-”

Keith was shaking his head, and he backed away, turning and fleeing through the hallways.

“Keith!”

Allura made to run after him, but Lance put a hand on her arm.

“Wait. He needs to feel safe again. Also, you’re still glowing a little.”

“You- you’re not scared?”

Lance laughed nervously. “Are you kidding? I’m _terrified_! I mean, that, right there, that is unnatural.”

“Then-”

Lance took her hand.

“Allura, I know that you’d _never_ use your powers to hurt me. That’s what matters. Sure, I’m scared of that lightning and stuff, but, well, you’re not Haggar. And I know that. And, you know, when you started talking about those crazy dreams, I thought, hey, maybe, so part of me isn’t even surprised.”

“But Keith-”

“Keith is- I think- I think Keith is just panicking. I mean, he was always pretty terrified of Haggar, and the druid probably already freaked him out and then you start chucking lighting and he probably just panicked.”

“His face…”

“Like I said, he just needs to find somewhere to cool down and get his heart rate back under control.”

“I must go find him.”

Lance shrugged and pulled his restraining hand off of her arm.

“If you insist. He’s probably fine.”

\--------------------

Keith shot into an empty room, heart beating frantically. He slid down the wall with a sigh. What was he _thinking_?! He was jeopardizing the mission and Shiro’s safety!

But when he thought of the lightning… Keith shuddered. He couldn’t go back, he couldn’t face that, never again, not after last time-

A hiss of laughter echoed around the room, and Keith got his bayard ready.

“Get out of here, Haggar!”

_Oh, sweet little half-breed. Did you **really** think I wouldn’t notice you here?_

\-----------------

“Keith?! Keith! Where are you?”

Allura pushed open a door, and Keith scrambled away from her, pointing his bayard in her direction.

“Get out of here!”

“Keith, Keith it’s alright, it’s me, it’s Allura.”

“Allura?”

“Yes, it’s me. I promise I won’t hurt you. Just… put the bayard down.”

“You’re not Allura.”

“What?”

“Stop pretending to be my friend, Haggar, stop-”

Keith tensed up as Allura wrapped her arms around him, but slowly relaxed.

“Keith,” Allura mumbled, “I promise that I will never _ever_ hurt you.”

“Well, Allura.”

Allura froze as a stun gun was pressed to her head.

“Keith, what-”

Her friend’s eyes were cold and calculating, and that smirk- no, this wasn’t- how could they have forgotten- it had been so long ago-

“I’m afraid that Keith’s not around anymore.”

Allura barely had time to scream before Keith- _mind-controlled_ Keith- pulled the trigger of the gun.

\------------------

Lance’s head jerked up as he heard Allura scream. He turned around and shot off; he might be compromising the mission, but there was no way he was going to sit here and let Allura and possibly Keith get hurt.

He came to a halt outside of a deserted room where he saw Allura lying unconscious on the ground. A shaking Keith was holding the gun, his eyes wide.

“I’m sorry,” he wailed the instant he saw Lance, “I didn’t mean to! She startled me and I was shaky and-”

Lance deactivated his bayard with a sigh of relief. He could work with this. “It’s okay. Alright, look, I’m thinking maybe you should get Allura back to the others and I’ll go find-”

“No. You’re not going anywhere.”

A stun pulse hit Lance, and as he dropped off he could see Keith smiling a very un-Keithlike smile.

“You were both so easy,” he sneered, “You really should’ve known better than to bring the black paladin into my reach.”

\----------------

“Pidge! Hunk!”

Pidge tapped her helmet. “We’re here, Keith. What’s wrong?”

“The mission’s compromised- Lance and Allura are out. I need your help, _now_!”

“On our way.”

\-----------------

“What happened?”

“Ambush,” Keith said grimly, “They cornered us in a hallway. Luckily, their guns were on stun.”

“You think you can get Shiro?”

“Maybe, but I’m going to need your help. Hunk-”

“Get them back to the lions. Got it.”

“Alright. Pidge, come on.”

\--------------

“Hunk!”

Hunk stopped abruptly as Pidge screamed his name. He set Allura and Lance down and ran for the sound of her voice, where Keith was standing over her unconscious body.

“What… oh, no.”

Hunk turned to run down the hallway, back to the safety of the lions, but Keith was faster.

“Lights out, big guy.”

“Coran… trap… get- out…”

\---------------

Keith banged his head against the cell wall. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. This was all his fault, he’d been so _stupid_!

How could he have forgotten that Haggar could control him?! _How?!_ He had led them all into a trap, he was so, so, _stupid_!

Now the other paladins were locked up, ready to face the arena. They were going to die, all of them, and it was _all his fault._ He was so weak, he couldn’t even resist Haggar, he was just pathetic. Why couldn’t he do _anything_ right?

He didn’t even know where Allura was. Haggar had taken her away for “extra examination,” and Keith shuddered to think of what was happening to her.

All.

His.

Fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And you thought I'd forgotten about that particular power.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think it's high time we find Shiro, don't you?

“Get up, human scum.”

“And what if I say no?”

“Then we shoot you.”

Lance got up. “Hard to argue with that. You make a fairly decent argument.”

“Shut up.”

“Why?”

The Galra gave Lance an exasperated glare as he handcuffed the red paladin. “Because if you don’t, I’ll shoot you. You _are_ a slow learner, aren’t you?”

Lance shrugged. “Takes one to know one, I guess- ouch!”

The cuffs had been tightened until they pinched his skin.

“No snarky comments.”

“Ah, you love it, you know you-”

An electric shock ran through the cuffs, and Lance yelped.

“You don’t love it, got it.”

“Shut up or-”

“You’ll shoot me? Got it, thanks. But will you? Really? I mean, will Lotor be happy? Like, well, if he was controlling Keith, he could’ve easily killed me, so why bother knocking me out?”

“Emperor Lotor only _really_ wants the half-breed alive. But he thinks it might damage his mental health if we kill you or something.”

“Eh, well, either way, you need me alive.”

“I could make an exception if you don’t shut up.”

“Where are we going?”

“Shut up.”

“Oh, come _on_! Will answering simple questions _kill_ you?”

The Galra’s mouth twitched. “Yes.”

“Ye- what do you mean, y- oh. That was a joke! You were joking! Hey, see, I knew that you had some kind of sense of- ow! Okay, geeze! I get the message! Oh. Wait. Is this the arena?”

“Yes.”

\------------------

“Lotor, you two faced purple-”

“Someone please gag him.”

Keith bit the first person who tried, but he second one managed to hold his mouth open long enough to get the cloth in.

“Lock him to the wall. He’s slippery. Green paladin too and- well, probably not the yellow one, but just in case.”

Hunk wasn’t sure whether to feel insulted or flattered.

“What are you doing? Where’s Lance? Where’s Allura?”

A slight look of pain crossed Lotor’s face. “Unfortunately, the lovely Princess Allura could not join us. She is being… detained by Haggar. My apologies.”

“Like you care,” Pidge muttered. “Where’s Lance?”

Lotor gestured towards the arena below.

“His first gladiator match, isn’t it? How do you think he’ll do?”

\-----------------

Lance gulped. His opponent was twice his size. He had no weapon, but Lance got the feeling that he could crush Lance with one hand if he wanted to.

“Lance!”

Lance’s head snapped towards the emperor’s box. Pidge.

“Lance, they attack from long range, but they can only kill at close range! Their weaknesses are-”

She was cut off.

\--------------

“Now, now, green paladin. No spoilers.”

Pidge tried to bite Lotor, even with the gag on and he laughed. “Oh, I like this one, 41. Where’d you find her?”

Keith growled through the gag, and Lotor smirked.

“Oh, yes, sorry about that. But I don’t feel like having insults thrown at me today. I get quite enough of that from Haggar.”

Haggar walked into the box frowning.

“Speak of the devil,” Lotor muttered under his breath. “Hello, high priestess. Is there something you require?”

“Merla is meddling in my experiments.”

“Why yes,” Lotor said pleasantly, “That’s because I told her to.”

“Lotor-”

“Oh, no. Merla is a highly respected alchemist in her own rights, and I think we could all learn a few things from her.”

Haggar glared, but nodded. “As you wish… Emperor. And I suppose you’re going to send my other experiment in to fight?”

“Of course. Isn’t that why I extracted him from your mind-meddling?”

“I still don’t think-”

“Nonsense. He’ll be a perfectly fine superweapon. You don’t need to mess with his mind any longer. Now, then. Go back to your experiments.”

“With all due respect, I would prefer to watch my weapon’s progress from here.”

Lotor inclined his head, a slight look of annoyance crossing his face. “Of course.”

Lotor turned his attention back to the arena, where the creature Lance was about to fight was waiting.

“Begin!”

Keith winced as the creature threw a rock at Lance, catching him right in the chest and sending him flying across the arena. Lance staggered to his feet only to be hit by another rock, and then another; he couldn’t seem to get his balance. Finally, he stopped getting up, just lying there on the floor.

“Lance!” Hunk shouted, “Lance, get up!”

Keith growled in agreement, tugging on his chains as the monster approached Lance, his massive sledgehammer fist raised to deal the final blow- and he stopped, blinking. He looked down and blinked some more, and then fell over sideways, revealing the sword buried in his gut, Lance sitting up.

“Lance!”

Lance grinned up at the box, wincing as he raised an arm to wave.

“Well. That was… different. Not a good strategy if he’s going to me fighting more, which he is.”

“No! You can’t-”

“I can’t _what_ , yellow paladin?”

“You can’t make him fight anymore, look at him, he’s exhausted”

“He should’ve known better than to wear himself out like that, then.”

“Let me go instead!”

Keith yanked on his chains, shaking his head in disagreement. Lotor smirked.

“Got something to say, 41? Well, now. I’ve seen many fighters like him.” He nodded to Lance. “But you would be… different. That promises something.” He snapped his fingers, and sentries came out. “Very well, yellow paladin. Let’s see how you fight.”

\----------------

Keith tugged harder on the wall chains. He was almost- there-

“Begin!”

The musclebound alien made a direct lunge at Hunk, who just stepped to the side and let him stumble right past. Hunk banged the hilt of his sword on the alien’s head, and he dropped like a sack of rocks. Keith’s jaw dropped.

“Hunk,” Lance called, delighted, “Where on Earth did you learn _that_?!”

“Uh, not on Earth, in space. I won,” he called up to the emperor’s box, “I beat him. And I didn’t even have to kill him. Am I done now?”

The arena was dead silent. Nobody knew what to make of this- this- _pacifist_ who had _dared_ win without bloodshed. But behind Hunk, his opponent was getting back up. And Keith was the only one who could see him.

He’d been working at the gag, and he finally shoved it out of his mouth.

“HUNK!” he screamed, “LOOK OUT!”

Hunk turned, horror and fear dawning in his eyes as his adversary stabbed at him. He dodged, leapt to the side, but the sword still pierced his shoulder, red blood pouring over his brown skin.

“NO!”

With a roar, Keith ripped the chain out of the wall and leapt over the balcony wall, landing on the person in the arena. The guy was easily three times his size, but with a fierce war cry, Keith wrapped the chains around his throat, straddling his shoulder like an insane piggyback ride. The alien tried to pull him off, but Keith dodged his heavy hands, yanking the chain until he staggered to his knees and then passed out. Keith kept pulling until he was absolutely sure that this wasn’t a trick and then ran to Hunk, who was staring in shock at the wound in his shoulder.

“Hunk!”

“Oh- uh- I- uh- I wasn’t planning on this.”

“Hunk, put pressure, you’re going to be alright, it’s going to be fine, just hold on.”

Apparently someone had gagged Lance, because Keith could only hear growling and muffled yelling from the top box.

“LOTOR!”

“He chose that.”

“Lotor, you get medical help right now, or I _swear-_ ”

“Victory or death. He’s still got some more battles ahead of them. Maybe he’ll learn his lesson and kill them.”

“No! I’ll- I’ll fight instead!”

“You paladins. Always tripping over yourselves to get killed for one another. It’s the oddest thing.”

“Lotor!”

A sigh emanated from the top box. “Well, then. I suppose it can’t hurt. Someone clean that mess down there up.”

The sentries came back and led Hunk and the other alien away. Lotor was smirking, Keith could _tell_.

“Alright, then, 41. Let’s see how well you do against the Champion.”

Keith barely had time to think _now where did I hear that,_ before a new gate opened, and Lotor was gleefully saying ‘Begin’ as Keith faced down the person they’d come here to save.

Shiro.

\---------------

“Shiro? I- It’s you! I can’t believe- I mean, we came here to find you, and now we have, can you believe-”

Shiro narrowed his eyes and then his arm started to glow.

“…Shiro?”

 _He’s not Shiro anymore,_ Haggar’s voice hissed in Keith’s mind (he was _really_ beginning to hate that), _whatever made Shiro ‘Shiro’ is gone now. All of his time in the arena has clouded his vision. He can’t see you anymore. He only sees enemy._

“Shiro, what-”

Keith barely brought his sword up in time to stop Shiro’s arm.

“Shiro, what’re you-”

Shiro made another swipe for him, and Keith ducked.

“Shiro, it’s me, Keith, come on, don’t do this, don’t-”

Shiro’s eyes were fixated on Keith’s sword, and Shiro could see his mind calculating how to get it away from him so that he could kill his enemy. Keith dropped the sword.

“Shiro, I don’t want to fight you.”

“Stop.”

Keith stepped back. “Stop?”

“Stop trying to trick me!”

Shiro swung his arm, and Keith blocked it with his own, anticipating Shiro’s kick and blocking that too.

“Shiro, stop, I’m not going to-”

A punch to the jaw landed, sending Keith across the arena. He winced, trying to sit up, and then Shiro was on him, kicking and punching. Keith attempted to protect himself, but made no move to fight back.

\--------------

Champion raged against his tiny opponent. What was the Empire up to? Did they think he wouldn’t attack because his opponent was young? Why were they trying to do? It didn’t make sense, how did this creature know-

“Shiro, Shiro, stop!”

Why was he _calling_ him that, Shiro was dead, Shiro had died in the gladiator ring, there was only Champion, only the fights, how did he _know who he was_?!

Why wasn’t he fighting, why was he sitting there, what was the trying to do, if this fight wasn’t interesting enough they’d _both_ be punished, didn’t he know that?

“What are you doing,” he roared as he slammed the little thing into a column, “Why won’t you fight?!”

“I- won’t- hurt- you!”

“FIGHT! FIGHT BACK!”

\-----------------

“Shiro-”

“STOP CALLING ME THAT!”

Shiro threw Keith, threw him into the wall, and this time, Keith didn’t get up, this time he was too dead inside, this time he just lay there in the crater he’d made until Shiro stomped over. Shiro lifted him up, holding him by the neck and squeezing, Keith pawed helplessly at his friend’s hand, tears streaming down his face, this was it, he was going to die, killed by his best friend.

“S-S-Shiro,” he tried, “p-please…”

\----------------

Champion picked his adversary up by the neck and started squeezing. He would win. He would survive, he would live to fight another day. That was all that mattered. The tiny- he realized with a start of horror that he was _strangling_ another human. No. It didn’t matter. He was Champion, and he had to fight, even if it was his own race, his survival was all that mattered. The boy tugged fruitlessly on Champion’s hand, choking, and was he… crying? No, they were crocodile tears, they had to be, they had to-

“S-S-Shiro, p-please…”

Champion’s eyes flew wide open. One word. Please. How long had it been since he’d heard that word? Here it was just demands, orders, not a please or thank you, no matter what he did. But… please…

That one word penetrated his mind. Not begging for his life; Champion had seen plenty of that. He was begging him to be Shiro again, to stop being Champion and be who he was, deep inside, where he’d hidden it far away, locked away where the Galra couldn’t touch it.

The closet unlocked, and Shiro could finally be himself again, and suddenly the months before his capture came to him, Voltron, his team and- sun, moon and stars, Keith! Shiro stared in horror at his friend, who was crying, whose face was bruised and beaten, _by him_ , he’d done this, and he was _strangling_ him, what was he _doing_?!

Shiro dropped Keith, backing away as Keith sucked air back into his lungs, coughing on his hands and knees. He’d been turning blue from lack of oxygen, what had Shiro _done_?!

“I- I-”

“Shiro,” Keith coughed, “Shiro, it’s okay, I- I’m fine-”

“I- no- I-” Shiro backed away in horror- he’d almost _killed_ Keith- how could he have-

“Shiro-”

Keith was crying again, what was he supposed to- he couldn’t comfort him, not after what he’d done, he couldn’t-

“S-Shiro-”

Shiro turned and ran. He ran, ran as far as he could, he’d let them turn him into a monster, how _could_ he, what had he- he was terrible, he’d hurt his friend, he’d hurt his brother, he couldn’t face them, he couldn’t-

“Shiro! No, Shiro, come back!”

Keith buried his head in his arms, shaking. He couldn’t- even after all that- Shiro-

“Well.” Lotor sounded almost… sympathetic. “I- Gladiator matches are done for the day.”

There was grumbling in the stands, but the crowd dispersed, going back to whatever their normal jobs were. Keith felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Pidge, Lance not far behind.

“Hey. It’ll be okay. We’ll get him back.”

“What…”

“Lotor says five minutes. Hunk’s in the hospital. Is it just me, or has Lotor gotten less psychotic?”

“I- I don’t know…”

“Doesn’t matter, we _have_ to get out of here. It’s okay, Keith. We’re getting Shiro, and we’re getting back.”

“Pidge. Pidge, you can’t take me.”

“Oh, no. We’re not doing _this_ again.”

“Pidge, remember what happened last time? I _shot Shiro_! We can’t risk that again!”

“I- actually, I had an idea about that. She controls you by sending electrical pulses, right?”

“Right.”

“So, if I were to give you electric shocks from my bayard, it would totally screw up her control!”

“Taser me to save me? I’m not going to lie, Pidge, it’s kind of a Lance plan.”

“Hey!” Lance protested.

“But it’s crazy enough to work.”

Lance opened his mouth and then shut it again. “Okay, now I’m not sure whether to feel insulted or complemented.”

“When in doubt, go with insulted,” Pidge told him, “It means you get to be indignant.”

“Time. I hope all of your little escape plans, which I’m sure is what you were discussing, fall flat.”

The sentries came out, re-handcuffing the paladins- most of them tried to keep their distance from Keith’s sharp teeth- and Lotor walked by. He stopped, looking like he wanted to say something, but a woman came walking towards him, and he kept moving. Lotor embraced the woman, and they started talking in low voices.

“Well, what do you know. Even if you’re an evil tyrant overlord of the universe, you’ll still have someone to love you.”

\------------------

“Merla. What do you know?”

“Haggar is definitely planning to take you down.”

“Lovely. Is everything going alright?”

“Lotor, it’s _fine_ , stop being a worried mother hen!”

“I just don’t want anything terrible to happen to you.”

“Lotor, I can handle myself.”

“Merla, I can’t lose you. If a situation ever looks like you might not be able to handle it, _get out_. No matter what.”

Merla rolled her eyes and mock saluted. “Yes, sir.”

Lotor’s eyes softened. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

Lotor glanced to the side, where the paladins were being led away. “Merla, I have a special request for you…”

\----------------

“Hey. You. Wake up!”

Lance squinted up at the cell door, where a feminine form with a hood on was standing.

“Who’re you?”

“A friend. I’m getting you out of here. I called your ship; he should be here soon.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Let’s say… I have a friend who has connections to your friends. Anyway, I think you need to get your druid out first.” A keycard was thrown into his cell. “that should unlock everything. But only for tonight, so don’t go busting into command centers every night. Destroy it when you’re gone, just in case. I don’t want anything traced back to me.”

“Every door?”

“It might not open some of the higher security cells, but the only person in any of those is the Champion, so it shouldn’t-”

“I need to get in there. I need to get Shiro out.”

“Of _course_ you do. Well, I got news for you. You won’t be able to. You’re going to have to leave him.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Okay, look, I’m not sure that taking him is even in your best interests. There are some things…”

“Like what?”

“It’s complicated.”

“So explain it to me.”

“I don’t have the time for this! Get out, get the other paladins, get safe. I won’t tell you again.”

“Who exactly is your friend?”

“He prefers his identity to remain a secret. As do I. I’m leaving now. This is as far as I can help you.” She turned to go.

“Wait! At least tell me- why couldn’t you go to whichever of my friends it is?”

She paused. “I- It’s complicated. No more questions. Goodbye.” In a blink of an eye, she was gone, leaving Lance alone with a way to save his friends.

\--------------

Allura shied away from the cell door as it opened, growling in the back of her throat. There was _no way_ she was going to let that witch take her a second time.

“Allura?”

“Lance?”

“Allura!” Lance swiped some keycard thing over her cuffs, and they unlocked. “Man, am I glad to see you!”

“Where did you get that card?” Allura tried to keep the suspicion out of her voice, but was left with the distinct impression that she’d failed in that respect.

Lance wiggled his eyebrows. “A mysterious benefactor. Very suspicious. Very good timing. I’m going to need your help, definitely with Hunk, probably with Shiro.”

“Shiro? You found him?!”

“Uh, yeah, kind of. In a way.”

“And what about…”

“Keith? Oh, Pidge thinks she’s got that figured out, maybe probably. Speaking of which, we need to find her bayard, or maybe a cattle prod.”

“A _what_?!”

“Never mind, explain it later, we need to go.”

\------------------

“Half-breed.”

Keith shied away from Haggar, glaring at her, but terrified inside. She smirked.

“We have some work to do.”

\-------------------

“That’s everybody but Keith and Shiro. My mysterious friend told me that Shiro was in the maximum security, but where’s Keith?”

\------------------

Keith hated this. He hated how she didn’t even have to cuff him, he had to follow her through the halls like an obedient puppy, all for her _entertainment_. He wished he could slice her smug witchy face off.

“I always wanted to see what you looked like on the inside,” Haggar hissed, “A shame Lotor kept me from that. But he’s not here to protect you now.”

The whites of Keith’s eyes turned a sickly yellow. She was going to dissect him.

Haggar released her hold on him, and Keith grabbed a scalpel, running for it.

_And **where** do you think **you’re** going?_

Keith shuddered as he felt her control start to set on him. With his last ounce of strength, he drove the scalpel into the nearest light, shouting as the electricity coursed through his body; nearby, he could hear Haggar screaming in anger. He dragged himself to his feet, ripping the scalpel out of the light, panting. He wasn’t going back.

\----------------

“Shiro?”

The person in the cell held a hand up to his eyes. “Lance? Is that you?”

“Come on, we’re getting you out. “We probably set off about ten alarms getting in here, so we don’t have much time.”

Shiro put his head in his hands. “I- I can’t. You don’t understand- you don’t know what I-”

“We were there. We saw.”

“Then you know why I can’t come with you! You saw what I did, how I almost killed Keith, I-”

“And we love you anyway. You never gave up on us, Shiro. And we’re not giving up on you.” Lance held out a hand. “Are you coming?”

\----------------

“My Lord Lotor. The paladins appear to have escaped.”

“Get me security feeds.”

The soldier obeyed, and Lotor squinted at the screen. “Wait. Where’s 41?”

“We have a separate feed.”

Lotor pulled it to his viewing screen, and his face turned dark purple with anger.

“From Haggar’s lab? She had express orders not to touch him!”

“My lord?”

“Have high priestess Haggar meet me in the arena. I want to talk to her.”

“The arena, sir?”

“I want to have a lot of dangerous animals I can unleash nearby.”

\---------------

Keith turned another corner, panting. Was this the right way?

 _No,_ a little voice told him, _you want to go left_. He turned left, and entered the arena. Haggar was in there, and Keith tried to back away into the shadows, or at least towards a light he could stab.

 _Now, now,_ Haggar hissed, _Don’t hide in the shadows. Come and say hello!_

\----------------

“Haggar, you knew my orders!”

Hagar didn’t respond. Lotor growled, deep in the back of his throat.

“I could have you executed for _treason_! Besides, would it have even been worth it? Would it _really_ have been worth it?”

“Yes.”

41 charged into the room, skidding to a halt as he caught sight of Lotor and Haggar.

“And you let him _escape_?!”

“I did not! He was much cleverer than I anticipated. I suspect the green paladin.”

“Fine then. Control him back into his cell and then I _will_ investigate this further.”

Lotor turned to leave, but then felt a tingling at the back of his neck, and he turned, bringing up his sword to defend himself as his former slave brought his- _where had he gotten his bayard_ \- down on Lotor’s head.

“Haggar! What are you _doing_?!”

“Emperor Zarkon is almost awake. You are a liability to his throne. I will see that you can _never_ threaten him!”

41’s eyes were sharp and fierce. He wasn’t himself; those eyes were cold and calculating, not the pits of fire that they usually resembled. He was also aiming to kill, and though Lotor had seen the fire in 41’s eyes to kill before, he never would. He didn’t have the stomach for openly killing an opponent.

Lotor was surprised. He had to admit, this was a fairly genius plan. He’d taken away her favorite toy, Champion, but she had lured him into a situation where she could claim innocence. A renegade slave, and a _paladin_ , no less, had killed Lotor. She had been too late; all she could do was kill the assassin. The one person who could refute her story. Convenient.

41 landed a hit, slicing a line across Lotor’s stomach and following up with a stab in the hip, just as Merla raced in.

“NO!”

There was an odd, twisting sensation in Lotor’s stomach, and he was immediately in the emperor’s box, a glowing shield of energy surrounding him. Merla faced 41 down in the arena, her hands glowing with energy. Haggar teleported to another box, watching with twisted pleasure.

“Don’t you _touch_ him!” Merla screamed, throwing a bolt of energy at 41 that he barely dodged.

“Merla,” Lotor called weakly, “He’s not in his right mind! He won’t hesitate to kill you!”

“Well,” she replied through gritted teeth, “I won’t hesitate to kill him either.”

The sorceress threw bolt after bolt of lightning at 41, all of which he dodged, running towards her. A massive beast erupted from nowhere, but dissolved into mist when 41 sliced it, completing his run and stabbing at Merla.

Lotor saw it then. Haggar stopped controlling him in mid-stab. Lotor could see the horror in 41’s eyes as he realized that he couldn’t stop his sword, in that split second before his bayard entered the sorceress queen’s chest.

Lotor screamed, all of his pain and agony expelling in one blast as the shield around him flickered and died. Merla’s face was twisted with pain, but in a last-ditch effort, she grabbed 41’s head and, with a blast of energy, sent him flying across the arena, slamming hard into the wall.

Lotor jumped over the wall, running to her crumpled form on the arena sands as Haggar dissolved, laughing.

“Merla, Merla, no, no, please, don’t do this to me!” Lotor held the crumpled form of his love close to his chest, sobbing. “No, please!”

“Lotor… I…”

“Merla, please, don’t leave me, stay with me, we can fix this, we can fix anything, please!”

“Lotor… I… I love you…”

“No,” Lotor whimpered as the life faded from her eyes, “NO!”

He screamed, a scream of loss, a scream of hate, a scream of sadness. The one person, the one person who had loved him, all he had left in this universe, the reason he had tried so hard- dead, gone forever, gone!

41 was getting up, and he stared at the blood on his sword, and then at the Galra prince, holding Merla’s dead body and crying.

“I…”

“Get out,” Lotor snarled, “Get out! Get out of here! GO!” he screamed, “Just… go,” he sobbed, “go.”

To his surprise, 41 obeyed, limping out of the arena without another word. Lotor could hear the other paladins, exclaiming at how glad they were to find him. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t right that everybody else had someone to love them. Even his father, easily the worst being in existence had Haggar. And Haggar, who just might beat his father out for worst being, had Zarkon. But the one thing- the _one_ thing- that Lotor had loved had been ripped away from him, taken in an instant.

If what Haggar said was true, and Zarkon was awakening, Lotor would likely be hunted down. He needed to leave _now_ if he was going to survive, and he knew it. But at the same time, at the same time, Lotor wanted revenge. He would hunt down Merla’s killer to the end of the universe, rip the person who had killed her to shreds. His head lifted as he heard the sounds of the paladins echoing down the hallway. He was going to get his revenge. And he knew _exactly_ where to start.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here, have some angsty fluff. Sheithers, if you touch this, I will throw you in a pit of angry bears. :)

“Keith. Keith, come on. You have to sleep sometime.”

Keith stayed resolutely sitting on the medical bench. “No. Shiro’s going to be confused when he comes out of the pod, and I- after the arena- I don’t know if he’ll recognize anything around him. I need to make sure he’s okay.”

“Keith…”

“Allura, I’ll be fine.”

“Hunk and Lance got out of healing pods too, you know. And I think you should probably have a short stay in a pod, just to be-”

“It’s just bruises, Allura. I’ll be fine. Go sleep. I know that you need recovery.”

“Keith… what’s going to happen? With the lions? I- Lance isn’t saying it out loud, but… I think he’s worried about who’s going to fly the lions when there’s six paladins.”

“We’ll figure it out. Go to bed.”

Allura lingered for a moment but then left the room with a sigh.

\--------------------

Pidge got out of bed, yawning. Man, she was _thirsty_. It was amazing what just- wow, they’d only been there for a _day_ \- what one day in Galra captivity could do to you. She’d been so _tired_ she could’ve just gone to sleep right there and then, but they’d had to run safety procedures, evasive maneuvers, and by the time they had decided they were far enough away, Pidge had been _exhausted_. To say nothing of Keith, Lance and Hunk, who’d all been in the gladiator pit.

Apparently, her plan had worked. Maybe sticking a scalpel in an electric socket hadn’t _quite_ been what she’d gone for, but the theory still stood. Of course, _electrifying_ yourself was _probably_ grounds to be forcefully shoved into a healing pod, but the stubborn idiot had refused, and short of sedating him (which would be hard enough), there was nothing they could do to get him in a pod.

The light was still on in the medical bay, and Pidge sleepily poked her head in to see what was going on.

Keith was curled up on the bench, his jacket bunched under his head like a blanket. Pidge smiled slightly when he snored. Huh. She’d kind of figured Keith didn’t do undignified things like snore; that was one more myth proved wrong. Keith shivered, and she shook her head. Stubborn idiot. It would take _maybe_ five minutes to get to his room and back for a blanket, but, of course, what if Shiro came out in those five minutes?

Pidge shook her head again, padding softly down the hall to Keith’s room and yanking a blanket off his bed. She trudged back to the med bay and draped it over him. He let out a contented sigh, and Pidge had to smile. He was kind of cute when he was asleep. Like a little puppy. Or a very large puppy. A very large, yellow-eyed puppy. Okay. She needed to cut that train of thought off.

“’Night, Stubborn.”

\-------------------------

A little beeping noise penetrated Keith’s sleep, and he jumped, displacing the blanket- where had _that_ come from- that was wrapped around him.

“I’m awake,” he yelped, “I’m up, what’s- oh.”

It had just been the cryo pod, warning that the process was nearly over. Keith rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, yawning. Huh. He hadn’t realized how tired he really was. He had thought he’d never be able to sleep again, not after…

He shuddered. He’d killed her. Sure, she’d attacked him, but she was just trying to protect what she loved; yeah, Keith found her tastes in men a bit unreliable, but still. She hadn’t known. She hadn’t known what Haggar was doing, all she’d seen was Keith trying to kill Lotor, and she’d stepped in.

The worst part was, he couldn’t even blame it on Haggar. Well, he could, technically, but in that moment, in that moment before he’d stabbed her, he’d had full control of his limbs. But he hadn’t stopped. He’d plowed right through. And now she was dead.

The cold, rational part of him told himself that this was good; a powerful druid in the hands of Lotor could’ve spelled the end of Voltron.

But at the same time, she… maybe she could’ve been good. Her energy… when she’d blasted Keith, it hadn’t been the same as Haggar’s. Similar, but not the same. Haggar’s was a dark- what did Allura call it, quintessence? Yeah, hers was dark and energy draining, fueled by hate and malice. But the other one… hers had felt different, like it wasn’t dark, it was just a wall of passion, of love and maybe even happiness.

None of it mattered, anyway. She was dead now, Keith had murdered her. He looked down at his hands, which were shaking. He pulled out his bayard, just because he needed to see, but the instant he activated it, all he could see was the blood, her body, Lotor crying his heart out on the sand.

Keith threw his bayard across the room, yelling. His bayard clattered innocently to the floor, its black surface twinkling at him. Keith ran his fingers through his bangs, panting like he’d been in a fight. He’d killed someone. Cut them down. He wasn’t going to forget that. Not ever.

There was a hiss, and the pod opened, Shiro stumbling out. Keith lunged forward, momentarily forgetting his own troubles as he caught Shiro.

“Wha- Where… where am I?”

“It’s okay, Shiro. You’re safe.”

“Keith?”

“It’s me, it’s okay.”

“Keith, no, you have to get out of here, you have to escape- ugh- I- sorry… I didn’t…” Shiro pushed himself off of Keith, standing on his own two feet. He winced, trying to clear his head. He was safe. This wasn’t a Galra ship. This was the Castle of Lions. He wasn’t a captive anymore. He was here, with his team.

“Shiro?”

Keith was tilting his head confusedly at Shiro, and Shiro caught sight of the bruises all over his face, as well as a split lip. Shiro cupped Keith’s head in his hand, taking in his beat-up face. His thumb gently brushed Keith’s eye, which was slightly swollen and a nasty black/blue color.

“Heavens above, Keith, did I… did I do this to you?”

Keith put his hand on top of Shiro’s. “It’s okay. I’m alright.”

“I can’t believe I…”

“Hey, that wasn’t the real you, right? _This_ is the real you.” Keith smiled at him, looking for all the world like a trusting child.

Shiro hugged him, a single tear making a path down his face. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“It’s going to be okay, Shiro. You’re home now.”

\----------------------

Lotor slammed one hand down on the desk in front of him. He hated traders like these, scum who would sell their own children into slavery to make a few extra gac. They made him feel sick to his stomach.

“I think I’ve been very patient with you, but I’m only going to ask this one more time. You’re going to answer my question, or I will lock you inside this building and light it on fire. Understand?”

The trader in front of him nodded. Maybe it was the steel in his eye, or the battle ship behind him, but this scum of the moon would tell him what he needed to know.

Lotor looked him directly in the face. “Where. Is. Voltron.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things blow up, and it's all Keith's fault. hehehehehehehehe.

“We’re under attack!”

Shiro and Keith both made for the black paladin’s seat, and the air seemed to crackle with tension before Keith stepped back.

“You take command.”

Shiro smiled briefly at Keith before sitting in the familiar chair and going down the zipline to the lion.

Except… the black lion wasn’t responding to his commands.

“Come on,” he muttered, “work with me…”

“Keith. The black lion isn’t responding. I- I think we need you to fly him for now.”

Keith felt a thrill of pleasure, and immediately felt bad for being happy. Sure, being the leader could be fun in its own way, but one of the biggest reasons for getting Shiro back was so that he could take his rightful place as leader. And now… now he couldn’t. Keith being the leader was the only option they had.

\-----------------

Hunk rubbed his eyes sleepily. It was the middle of the night, but he could’ve _sworn_ he’d heard someone. He poked his head out of the door to see Keith, walking down the hallway.

“Keith? You okay?”

Keith didn’t answer, and Hunk sighed. What could he possibly be up to?

“Keith, buddy, wait up.”

Hunk ran to catch up with his friend, putting a hand on his shoulder and spinning him around to face the yellow paladin. Hunk’s eyebrows shot up. Keith’s eyes were closed. He was sleepwalking.

“Keith, wake up!”

Hunk shook Keith’s shoulders, but he didn’t wake up. When Hunk let go, he continued his steady trek down the hallway, turning through the twisting hallways. Hunk followed, hoping Keith would stop soon.

He didn’t. He went all the way to the airlocks, and started pressing the buttons.

“Keith, Keith, stop it! Keith, you’re going to get sucked into the vacuum of space, _stop_!”

Hunk grabbed Keith, pulling him away from the controls and shaking him. Keith tried to return, his fingers itching for the _open_ button. Hunk wrestled him away from the controls as his eyes opened, and they both fell backwards in a big heap.

“What,” Hunk panted, “was that?!”

“I- What? How did I get all the way out here? Where- what?!”

“You were sleepwalking, man! You tried to throw yourself out into space!”

Keith ran a hand through his bangs. “What? No, that doesn’t make sense, I’ve never sleepwalked before, why would I…”

“I don’t know, but you could’ve _died_!”

“It won’t happen again.”

“Are you sure? I mean…”

“I’m fine, Hunk. Thanks for the assist. You can go back now.”

Hunk eyed him suspiciously, but began walking back down the hallways. Keith just stared at the airlock that had almost been his end. Right when he’d woken up, just before Hunk had pulled him away, he’d felt it. Haggar’s pull. She was getting stronger; he _had_ to figure out how to resist her.

\---------------

“Keith! I’ve got a tail!”

“On it!”

Keith yanked the black lion into firing position, but just before he could fire, his muscles spasmed and froze. He was completely paralyzed.

Then a round of laser fire hit the black lion’s head, and he snapped out of it.

“Keith! What was that?!”

“Sorry,” Keith mumbled, “Muscle cramp.” He knew it wasn’t, but he didn’t want the team involved. They would only get worried, and he could figure this out. It couldn’t be that hard to do, right?

He could ignore. It. It was just the occasional muscle spasm, sometimes waking up in weird places, sleep-fighting gladiators and waking up with bruises. It was no big deal.

Until it nearly killed him and Lance.

Xxx

“Lance, you’re coming with me. We’ll secure the tunnels. Everybody else, stay in the lions, destroy the Galra equipment on the surface. Go!”

Lance glanced around the tunnels. “This feels… creepy. Like, where are all the soldiers? They should’ve come running the instant we set foot in here.”

“Just focus on the mission.”

“Yeah, but what if this is an-” Lance grabbed the back of Keith’s armor and yanked him backwards as a round of laser fire shot the space where he’d just been. “-ambush,” he finished, activating his bayard, “Of course it is.”

Keith sliced his way through the battalions, Lance covering him with laser fire.

“Keith! On your left!”

Keith brought up his bayard to block an electric staff that was charged with enough energy to kill a water buffalo. His enemy pressed down on him, but Keith stood firm.

At least until his limbs locked up. The Galra, sensing an opening, kicked out and sent Keith into the wall.

“Keith!”

Lance’s laser fire hit the soldier in the arm, and he dropped his staff with a hiss, drawing a knife with his good hand, and flinging it at Lance. Keith lunged up from the wall, slamming the flat of his blade against the Galra’s head to knock him out, but a cry of pain told him that the knife had found its mark.

“Lance! Lance, are you alright!”

Lance laughed shakily. “Uh- I think I might need to get back to the Castle and-” He broke off with a grunt of pain, and Keith bounded up to his vantage point, dodging laser fire.

The knife had entered in Lance’s chest, just below where his heart would be, and the injured paladin had just pulled the knife out grimacing. Blood was now freely flowing from the wound in his chest, and Keith started to panic.

“Lance! You shouldn’t’ve taken the knife out- you’re going to bleed out-”

“But it hurt,” Lance said, with his face twisted in pain, “And I thought that pulling it out would make it stop.” Lance’s eyes were unfocused and hazed over with pain.

“No, come on, snap out of shock, come on, buddy, don’t do this to me!” Keith gently shook Lance, but he didn’t respond.

Keith glanced at the remaining Galra, who were trying to fire on their position. If they tried to get down from here, they’d be riddled full of laser bullets before he could say quiznek. He glanced at the cave roof, which was full of cracks and evidently on its last legs. He glanced back down on the sentries, and one of his famously terrible ADD ideas came to him.

“Alright, hold on, Lance, we’re going to get out of here.”

Keith threw a grenade up to the ceiling, where it stuck, blinking. The Galra sentries all turned their attention towards it and Keith slid down from the ledge, dragging Lance with him. He _had_ to get as much distance as he could before-

The grenade went off, and Keith held his shield over his head, trying to cover both him and Lance at the same time as the cavern collapsed around them. He could make it, he could get out of here, but he had to act fast-

Then his feet stopped responding.

“No,” he muttered, “No!”

His feet started working again, and he stumbled forward. He _had_ to make it, Lance would get help, it would be okay-

A massive boulder landed on the shield, and even though Keith deflected it, the pressure snapped his arm back, dislocating his shoulder.

Keith yelped in pain but kept pressing on, his shield useless. The cavern collapsed around them, and Keith made a last, desperate lunge for the exit, flinging himself and Lance out.

His com fizzled back to life-being underground had really screwed it up- and he called Coran.

“Coran, we- uh- we need you, right now!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Lance is hurt.” Keith struggled to keep his voice from breaking. “He’s hurt really bad.” Keith looked back, where his lower half as well as a good bit of his abdomen were trapped under rocks. “Come to think of it, I might be too.”

Xxx

Allura’s brow creased as she looked at the two cryo pods Lance and Keith were floating in.

“What _happened_?!”

“Uh, I’m not sure,” Coran answered, tugging on his mustache, “Keith passed out before he could tell us anything. But I do know one thing; Lance is going to need a blood transfusion. The pod can’t replace that much blood, and his body can’t either.

“What?!”

“Unfortunately, humans have an odd malady called ‘blood types.’ If someone is outside their blood type, they can’t share blood.”

“You have _got_ to be kidding me.”

“I’m afraid not, Princess. Hunk says he can test our blood types, though, so that’s good news!”

“Guys,” Hunk said, looking up from where he was testing blood, “I’ve got bad news. None of us share Lance’s blood type.”

“ _What_?! _Five_ of you, and not a single one of you can give blood?!”

“Allura, Coran, I’m going to have to test you both, just in case.”

“Ah, Hunk, I hate to point this out, but we’re not human.”

“I realized that, thank you, Coran.”

“Well, I just want to point out that we have _no idea_ what potential side effects this could have.”

“Just let me test you. You probably won’t be compatible and we’ll have to make an emergency run to Earth, but I’d like to make sure before we go all the way back there.”

Allura and Coran sighed, but let the yellow paladin take a sample of their blood. Hunk tested them, and then grinned. “Allura, this is great!”

Allura squinted at the little glowing symbol next to her name and then at the one near Lance’s.

“They’re different.”

“Yeah, but you have o negative blood! You’re a universal donor!”

Allura’s eyes widened. “Universal?!”

“Well, on Earth, anyway.”

Allura frowned. “But I don’t match Lance.”

“I- you know what? I’ll explain it some other time. For now, it’s an Earth thing, just trust me. Coran, can you get this set up?”

“Of course. Are you absolutely sure that this will work?”

“Yes.”

“Allura?”

“If Hunk says it’s necessary, then it is necessary. I’m ready.”

Xxx

“Keith. Would you care to tell us what’s going on with you?”

“I- I’ve been having problems. My muscles are just freezing up, and I think… I think it’s Haggar.”

“Is that why you nearly sleepwalked yourself out of an airlock?”

Keith glared at Hunk. “I was _hoping_ that little incident would be kept _secret_.”

“Keith, you almost walked out of an _airlock_?! That’s serious! You can’t just pretend that didn’t happen! That’s the kind of thing you’re supposed to tell us! You too, Hunk!” Allura gave both Hunk and Keith withering glances

Hunk ducked his head, ashamed. Keith remained decidedly un-withered.

“Keith,” Shiro asked softly, “How long has this been going on?”

Keith ran his fingers through his bangs, carefully avoiding Shiro’s eyes. “I don’t know, a month now? Pretty much ever since we escaped.”

“And she hasn’t killed you with sleepwalking yet? How?”

“Uh, sometimes I woke up in weird places. But mostly I just didn’t sleep. It’s okay.”

“Keith, that is _not_ okay!”

Keith stood up. “Shiro, I’m fine!”

Shiro wondered how he hadn’t noticed the dark circles under Keith’s eyes sooner; no wonder the black lion wasn’t letting him in if he couldn’t even see his own teammate’s pain.

“Keith-”

“No! Everybody, stop worrying! I’ve been dealing with it just fine!”

“Except today,” Pidge argued, “When it almost got Lance _killed_! It’s not something you can dismiss if it’s going to put the rest of us in danger!”

“I can cope with it, I’ll figure it out, it’ll be-”

“Don’t say ‘fine’,” Pidge shouted, getting up and into his face, “Don’t say fine like everything’s going to be okay! Everything isn’t okay! What if this happens while you’re alone? What then? You could _die_! Or if she gets better control, she could kill all of us! This isn’t just affecting you, Keith! It’s affecting all of us, and you’re not going to shrink away from us right now! Right now, you need to shut up, sit down, and let all of us put our heads together and figure this out!”

“Pidge-”

“SIT!”

Keith sat. Pidge started to pace.

“We know electricity can stop it. But we don’t want to accidentally kill or incapacitate you. The only thing I can think of is- no, no, that’s a terrible idea, scratch that idea. Okay. Start over. Anybody got ideas?”

“Maybe,” Hunk asked hesitantly, “maybe if you told us your idea, we could improve on it.”

Pidge looked at Keith, her sad, luminous brown eyes unsettling. “I thought… maybe a chip or something that gives off really small electric shocks, and each of us could activate it if need be. But… no. Like I said, terrible idea.”

Keith nodded in agreement, slightly appalled that she’d even _think_ of something like that, even though it seemed innocent enough. Allura, however, tilted her head at Pidge, her expression confused.

“Why is that such a bad idea? It seems fairly practical to me.”

Keith just shuddered, and Shiro put a hand on his arm reassuringly.

“Think,” he said to Allura, “Who else do we know that uses shocking chips?”

Allura’s expression shifted from confused to horrified, one hand shooting to her mouth. “Oh! Keith, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s alright,” Keith muttered, staring at the ground, “I know you didn’t mean it.” His ears were burning a bright red; he was suddenly ashamed of the fact that the shocking chip was a bad idea. He felt… well, if he was being perfectly honest, he felt like he was weak. A shocking chip was, as Allura said, a practical idea; it was because of _his_ blocks that they couldn’t do it. Because what if he panicked when they had to use it? What if he freaked out when they were putting it in and accidentally hurt one of them?

“Well,” Hunk said tentatively, “what if we just had… when Keith was back on Lotor’s ship, he jammed a piece of metal into a light socket. What if he just kept a constantly charged taser or something near him that he could do himself? Would that be… better for you, Keith?”

“The problem is,” Pidge interjected, “if Haggar gains control fast enough, it won’t matter. But again, handing each of us tasers or something… that just doesn’t feel right.”

Shiro and Pidge both nodded in agreement.

“I can do it,” Keith piped up, “there’s just enough time normally for a couple of seconds of hand control. If I keep it right next to me, I think I can keep control. We can make this work.”

“On your right!”

Keith banked hard at Hunk’s warning cry, barely avoiding an ion cannon blast. “Thanks, buddy.”

“No problem.”

Keith felt an odd twitch in his muscles, and the unfortunately familiar feeling of powerlessness settled over him. He reached for his electric stick, cursing, and his hand closed on empty space. His eyes widened in terror as he realized that it had come loose when he’d dodged the cannon, but that realization came too late.

Xxx

“Good, we’ve almost got them on the-”

Lance was sent tumbling through space as the black lion bowled over the red one.

“Hey! Keith! Watch it!”

Keith didn’t respond.

“Hello? Keith? You sent me flying through space, I think I deserve an-”

The black lion started firing on the Castle. Lance’s blood chilled, and he cursed.

“Guys, I don’t know what happened, but I think Keith didn’t reach his stick.”

“Coran! There’s a new switch on your control panel, with a little slide control next to it.”

“Pidge, what did you do?!”

“I- well, I’ve been working on an electricity field the Castle can generate to shut down Galra ships; I figured I could insulate the lions so we’d be safe, but after yesterday I modified it to be able to shoot a single beam, and I added a lower setting, just in case- in case something like this happened. I installed it last night.”

“Pidge, that’s… kind of underhanded.”

Pidge waved a hand at the black lion, which was still firing on the Castle. “Can you really blame me? Anyway, just set the electricity as low as it can go, fire, and Keith should snap back to normal.”

Coran eyed the switch. He wasn’t entirely sure this was the best solution; he knew Keith’s mind was… fragile. He wasn’t sure that doing this wouldn’t break the delicate trust that they’d built up, and he _really_ didn’t want to risk that; what if it affected their ability to form Voltron?

“Shiro? I think this is your call. You’re in charge now.”

Shiro closed his eyes, looking away. “Do it.”

Coran reached for the switch, hesitating, and another explosion rocked this ship, jolting the royal advisor. He closed his eyes and flipped the switch.

Keith cried out in pain, and Coran knew immediately that something was wrong. He looked frantically at the control panel and saw that he’d accidentally bumped the strength level up to the highest setting when the black lion had fired on the Castle.

Shiro lunged for the control panel, flipping it off.

“Keith! Keith, answer me, buddy, are you alright? Keith!”

“I killed him,” Pidge sobbed, “Oh my gosh, I killed him!”

The yellow and blue lions latched onto the larger black lion, dragging it into the Castle, both paladins panicking, Hunk most of all.

“What if we killed him?! I helped design that thing while it would’ve been a field, and that level had enough energy to paralyze a water buffalo! Keith, please don’t be dead!”

The yellow and blue lions gently set the black lion down in the hangar, Hunk and Allura running into the cockpit. Keith was slumped over in his chair, breathing shallowly and occasionally shuddering. Hunk let out a shaky laugh of relief.

“He’s alive! Pidge, it’s okay, you didn’t kill him!”

Allura checked Keith’s pulse. “We need to get him in a cryo pod.”

“Is that your solution for everything? Pop them in a cryo pod?”

“Well, unless you want him to die, it is! He’s very weak, and until his condition stabilizes, the best option is to keep him from getting any worse.” Allura gently picked Keith up, telling Coran to get a cryo pod up.

“Guys?”

“What’s wrong, Lance?”

“Well, uh, a ton of reinforcements just showed up, and we’ll hold them off, but we’re going to need some backup.”

Hunk nodded. “On it. Allura, get Keith to a pod and then get back out as fast as you can; I’m going to go help them.”

Shiro was waiting anxiously in the med bay, a cryo pod open next to him. “This is all my fault,” he fretted, “I should’ve told Coran not to fire!”

“Shiro, he would’ve destroyed the Castle,” Allura countered as she slid Keith into the pod, which hissed shut, “You made the best decision in a crisis with only bad solutions.”

“But still…”

“Shiro, please, we’re in a bad situation right now, don’t make it worse by blaming yourself. Clearly Keith’s condition was worse that he was telling us and Haggar was two steps ahead of us the whole time.”

Shiro took in a shaky breath. “Yeah. Okay. Go help the others. Everything will be fine.”

Xxx

“Hunk!” Lance yelled as the yellow paladin took a direct hit.

“I’m okay, I’m fine, but we _need_ Voltron! Shiro! How’s Keith?”

Shiro eyed the pod. “Uh… Not good.”

Allura cried out in pain, and Shiro gritted his teeth. They needed Voltron. But… there was no one to fly the black lion.

Or was there?

 _No_ , Shiro told himself, _that’s a bad idea._

 _What have you got to lose,_ a small voice told him, _the worst that can happen is that you’ll be rejected again. And if you succeed, then you can help them._

Before he could talk himself out of it, Shiro walked out of the med bay and to the hangar.

“Please,” he murmured to the black lion, “I don’t know what happened to lock me out, but I know you have your reasons. But right now, right now, they’re _dying_ out there. You trusted me once. _Trust me again_!”

Shiro opened his eyes as everything in the lion lit up. He gave a sigh of happiness and piloted the black lion out of the hangar. Voltron was back in business.

\---------------

Keith sighed and stared at his hands. His hands. His hands that had fired on the Castle. He couldn’t trust himself anymore. Oh, sure, the rest of the team said it was okay, they didn’t blame him and it had all turned out okay in the end. But it _wasn’t_ okay. He’d fired on them! In the black lion! What if that happened while they were on a training exercise and the Castle’s defenses weren’t up?! What then?! Then they’d end up with a broken Castle and no way to stop him! He’d probably turn the black lion right over to Zarkon!

And… some small voice was nagging at him. A small voice that was reminding him how they’d fired the electricity on him. Sure, they hadn’t meant for it to go wrong, and sure, it was the most practical thing to do, but still… they’d nixed the electricity chip because of how it would make him feel. They didn’t want to be his new jailers. But the instant it looked like things were going wrong? They’d turned on him. Just like everything else.

Maybe they didn’t want him anymore. Maybe he was just an extra now. After all, Shiro had reconnected with the black lion, who needed Keith anymore? All he was good for was attacking them. He wasn’t good for the team anymore. He was the one holding them back.

Keith opened the door to his room, looking carefully both ways. Good. No one. No one would see him leave. No one would try to stop him out of pity. He didn’t need their pity. He could take care of himself. He always had. He couldn’t be part of Voltron anymore, but maybe he could still fight the Empire. Alone. Unable to hurt anyone. They would all be safe from him.

\---------------

Lotor flew his ship in closer. He could see it. He could see the Castle of Lions. He was almost there.

_Soon, Merla. Soon._

Lotor’s brow creased as a small pod separated from the Castle. Now who could that be? He chuckled to himself as his scans come up with Galra origins.

“Oh, 41. Running away again. It seems to be what you’re best at.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Cackles* Oh, next chapter is going to be FUN!


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things metaphorically blow up, but it's not Keith's fault. Or: Keith gets advice from a very, very unexpected place.

Keith jumped up to his controls as something went streaking over his head. Was that a comet? The whatever it was streaked across the sky, slamming into a nearby planet. Keith frowned. He should probably check that out.

Keith took the pod in for a landing and examined the comet. It looked like… it was glowing, and almost looked like… well, a rip in space-time. But that was stupid. That kind of thing only happened in those shows and movies he and his dad had watched. Right?

Something started to emerge from the glowing, and Keith stumbled backwards with a yelp. An odd-looking ship emerged from the glow, and a lithe figure jumped out. Keith hissed angrily. Lotor. He activated his bayard and jumped on Lotor, who easily blocked him.

“I honestly thought we were past this attacking phase.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Keith snarled, “but whatever trick this is, I’m not falling for it!”

Lotor almost seemed like he was… humoring Keith. Keith wanted to jam his sword into Lotor’s chest and see how funny it was then.

The red lion flew out of the gap, Lance jumping out. Lotor continued fighting Keith.

“Lotor,” Lance sighed, “I’ve told you, you can’t go slicing everything that doesn’t kowtow to your every- Keith!”

Lance hug/tackled Keith, almost getting himself impaled. “Geeze! I haven’t seen you in person in- how long has it been?”

“Two weeks,” Lotor replied, amused, “Two whole weeks. Practically an eternity.”

“Okay, well, it always feels like longer when you almost defeat Zarkon and-”

“Could you get off of me?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry, Hunk told me that if I saw you I had to give you a hug for him. Anyway, Matt told us about that stupid stunt you almost pulled with the particle barrier, and- oh, yeah.” Lance slapped Keith across the face. “That’s from Allura. We all mutually agreed on what responses we had to give you if one of us found you without the others, because, geeze, you’re slippery, and why did you run off even after Lotor showed up, and-”

Keith pointed his bayard at Lance. “Who are you?!”

“Uh, Lance, your rival, you know, red paladin, right arm of Voltron, all that-”

“If you really are Lance, then what’re you doing with _him_?!”

Keith tilted his head at Lotor, who was making no attempt to either help Lance or kill Keith; Lance gave Keith a confused look.

“Uh, we’re allies now, remember that? Did you, like, hit your head or something?”

“I’ve only been gone _one_ week,” Keith snarled, “And I know that _none_ of you would _ever_ join up with Lotor, so. Who are you?”

“Keith, what-”

Lotor heaved a great sigh, as if he couldn’t _stand_ the number of idiots around him. “Lance, this is a transreality comet, and we went through. This isn’t the Keith we know. Honestly, it’s surprising his name is even the same.”

“Oh. Yeah. Okay, Keith, uh, well, whoo. Could you just, maybe, you know, put the sword down and we can discuss this like civilized people?”

“I haven’t gotten this far by being civilized. I’m not putting this sword down until you tell me exactly who you are.”

“Okay. Well. I’m… I’m kind of from another reality. An alternate universe, if you will. Lotor too. And, uh, in our reality, we’re allies. For now. Until Lotor stabs us in the back, which will inevitably happen.”

“I’m touched by your faith in me,” Lotor said wryly, “It makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside.”

“We all know it, Lotor. Anyway. So, in our reality, Lotor is… good-ish, and we’re not here to fight you, so could you _please_ put the sword down?”

Keith lowered his bayard, but kept it activated. “Prove it.”

“Huh. I’d think showing up and saying I’m Lotor’s ally would be enough. And by your response, I’d figure that you’re used to Lotor attempting to kill you on sight, so, again, proof.”

Keith frowned. “Fine. You’re from an alternate reality. Why are you here?”

“We’re trying to get rid of this comet. These things are… really dangerous. Voltron’s made from one, and apparently, all this conflict sprouted from the rip the stupid comet made, so we’ve come to the stellar conclusion of transreality comet = bad. Anyway, we just want to float this baby through to our reality and then blow it up, or hide it very far away where no one, including Lotor, can find it.”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“If you wanted me to trust you, maybe you should’ve helped out a little when I had a sword to my throat. So, what’s the deal with this universe? Altean Empire again? Sloths taken over the universe? Blade of Marmora gone wrong?”

“Blade of Marmora?” Keith echoed, “What’s that?”

“Blade of Marmora, maybe goes by the Guns of Gamora, resistance against one or another empire? Either a resistance of all Galra or possibly a man named Sven and a caterpillar named Slav? No? Not ringing any bells?”

Keith shook his head. “There’s occasional resistances on individual planets, but other than that, it’s just Voltron. Against the whole Galra Empire.”

“Oh. I don’t like your chances. How much of the universe have the Galra conquered, then?”

Keith’s brow creased. “Well, the whole thing, of course.”

Lance’s jaw dropped to the ground. “No way. The _whole universe_?! As in the whole thing? What about Earth?”

“Free now, but it was under control. You were a slave. So was Hunk. And Pidge, and Shiro, and Allura too.”

“And you?”

Keith glared at Lotor. “And me. I ended up working for _that_ psycho.”

Lance turned to Lotor, his face repulsed. “You kept _slaves_?!”

Lotor looked equally repulsed by the thought of having a personal slave. “Not in our reality, I assure you.”

“I- uh- Lance?”

Lance turned his attention back to Keith, who was turning a bit red. “Do I- do I have a family? In your reality? I mean, well, because, in this reality the Galra killed my dad, so I just… I just wanted to know.”

Lance caught the wistful glance Keith was giving the transreality hole, and heard the longing in his voice and he winced. “I, uh, well, I guess you have us. And your mom is out there somewhere. She’s part of the Blade.”

“What about my dad? Is he still…”

Lance lowered his head. “He’s dead. I’m sorry, Keith.”

Keith tried to keep himself from crying. Sure, it would’ve been an alternate version of his dad, not the same, but it still hurt. And part of him… part of him was hurting for his alternate reality self, who hadn’t been a slave and who had lived on Earth, but still hadn’t ever had a family or probably even a normal life.

“Oh. Well.”

“Hey, where’s the rest of the team,” Lance asked, peering around Keith like they might be hiding in the bushes, “I’d kind of like to meet myself.”

Lotor snorted. “Trust me,” he muttered, “you’ll be very disappointed.”

“Gee, thanks. So? Are they here? Where’s your lion?”

“I kind of… I left the team. I don’t think… well, it’s complicated. And… I’m not even sure they want me around.”

Lance looked supremely disappointed, but he quickly recovered.

“Oh. Okay. Well. I’m going to start moving this comet. If his lordship Lotor cares to lower himself to help out the working class, I would appreciate the help.”

“Oh, no,” Lotor said with a smirk, “What if I try to steal it? You can’t trust me.”

Lance grumbled, but got to work, hitching lines to the comet. Lotor watched for a moment before turning back to Keith. “You should go back to your team.”

“What? Nah, they don’t want me, I’m just-”

“You’re Keith. And if your team is anything like this lot, they’re crazy about you. Won’t shut up about you. Trust me. They want you back.”

“I don’t think-”

“Well, your tiny human brain probably isn’t capable of thinking big things, is it? Let me do all the thinking. Your team needs you. Or they will.”

“Lotor,” Lance called, “Get your stupid transreality ship over here! It’s starting to rain, and, much as I like rain, I don’t think it’ll be good for flying in!”

Lotor nodded and turned one last time to Keith. “Just go back. You _know_ you want to; it’s the only place you can call home.” He turned back to Lance and started hitching lines to his ship.

The sky started to rumble, and a ship zoomed out of hyperspace to appear in the atmosphere. Keith got a glance of who was in the cockpit, and he growled.

“Lotor. That little scumbag-” he glanced at Lotor and Lance. “Uh, present company excepted-”

“Oh, no,” Lance assured him, “He is, don’t worry. What do you think we should do about this?”

Keith realized, with a start of surprise, that Lance was talking to him; either he was insane, or he was just so used to following Keith’s lead… was that how the rest of the team saw him?

“Keith?”

Keith snapped out of his thoughts. “Right. You two get that comet back into your reality and, uh, bury it in a hole somewhere. I’ll hold off Lotor.”

“In what? Your tiny pod?”

“No, if I know this reality’s Lotor, he’ll come down here and try to fight me one on one. I’ll keep him busy, because if what you say about that thing is true, then it is _definitely_ not something I want Lotor getting his hands on.”

Lance nodded, and he and Lotor raced for their ships, Keith turning to face Lotor in the now-pouring rain. It was time to end this.

\----------------

Lotor exited his ship, no weapons out. Just him.

“What do you want?” Keith shouted, “Why are you here?”

Lotor growled. “I want revenge for Merla.”

Keith narrowed his eyes. Why wasn’t Lotor attacking? It didn’t matter. He evidently blamed Keith for the death of his girlfriend, and Keith wasn’t going to go down. He glanced back to where Lance and Lotor were getting the comet ready to go. He really hoped they knew what they were doing.

“I didn’t kill her. Well, I mean, I did, but- ugh, you know what, fine. If you want revenge, just try it!”

Lotor just heaved a sigh as Keith came running towards him, sword out. “I don’t want to fight you.”

Keith brought his sword down on Lotor’s head, the Galra prince barely blocking it.

“I just want to talk.”

“Yeah, right,” Keith snarled, “I’m sure you want to have a real nice talk with me in the torture chambers!”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Well, if this wasn’t a trap, that’d be a really nice change of pace.” Keith struck again and again, Lotor blocking each move but making no attempt to retaliate.

“It’s not a trap.”

“Like I’m going to believe you!”

The comet was gone now, but Lotor didn’t seem to care about either that or about the fact that it was starting to thunder. He just sighed.

“I want to help you, you idiot!”

Keith sliced at him again, drawing blood this time. “You’re lying!”

Lotor whipped out a pair of handcuffs and ducked under Keith’s next strike, slapping the handcuffs on Keith’s wrist and locking them to a tree. Keith dropped his sword, glaring at Lotor, who glared right back.

“I’m not lying!”

“Why would we _ever_ accept you, after all you did?! You’re wasting your time, whether this is a trap or not!”

“Why won’t you accept me?! Why can’t you just try to trust me?!”

“Gee, I don’t know,” Keith snarled, “ten years of torture as your slave certainly comes to mind!”

“You have no idea,” Lotor shouted, “You have no idea what I was trying to do!”

“Make my life a living hell, apparently,” Keith roared back.

“I was protecting you!”

“Liar!”

“Do you know what would’ve happened to you if I hadn’t interfered? Do you?! You would’ve been handed over to Haggar! And she would’ve dissected you! While you were still _alive_! And _awake_! Can you think of that?! No painkillers, nothing! I _saved_ you, and every other half-breed who came my way!”

“You hate half-breeds! You tortured us!”

“I don’t hate half-breeds- I _am_ a half-breed! Do you think that Haggar would’ve let me keep any of you for an instant if she thought that I treated you well?! I had to treat you like the other Galra treated the slaves! Why do you think I took you back after the whole Champion’s escape incident? I was hiding you from Haggar and my father!”

“You _stabbed_ me!”

“I missed all of your organs and your spine, didn’t I?! I was trying to get you away! I _thought_ that if they would take you to Earth, you would _stay_ there! I had hoped you would be taken out of the politics, out of the war, _safe_! I didn’t think you’d come waltzing back!”

Keith’s world was shattering, his understanding of the universe washing away with the rain, the lightning illuminating Lotor in a way he’d never seen before. Lotor had been trying to help him. No. It wasn’t possible. It wasn’t true.

“You _whipped_ me! You whipped me until I almost passed out, right after you _threw_ your _sword_ at me! I almost _died_!”

Lotor howled and his fist came careening towards Keith. Keith flinched, but the punch just slammed into the tree trunk next to his head, Lotor staring Keith directly in the face.

“Do you know,” Lotor growled, “exactly _when_ Haggar started her experiments on controlling the Galra?”

Before Keith could answer, Lotor told him. “She started eight years ago, when I had just lost a swordfight. I was angry and not paying attention.” He started to shake, and Keith realized with a start that Lotor was _crying_ , really _crying_! “Haggar and my father fear you because of your heritage. I don’t, because I know that she’d never hurt me. But they do, and Haggar wanted to watch you suffer and maybe even die. I regret that day more than you will ever understand, because… because I broke my promise to your mother.”

“My…”

“Your mother. My half-sister. She- I promised her that if you ever showed up, I would protect you. And I did. And I tried.”

“You’re…”

“I’m your uncle, Keith. And your mother’s still out there. She wants you back. I’m going to help you find her; then we can stab Haggar in the face. Family bonding. It’ll be fun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Admit it, I faked all of you out.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, how is the rest of the team doing with Keith's sudden disappearance?

“Lotor, I need coordinates.”

“Aren’t we going back to the Castle?”

Keith glanced sideways at Lotor. This was… unnerving, for Lotor to be sitting right next to him, but not giving orders, just asking questions.

“No,” he said in answer to Lotor’s query, “The other paladins will shoot you on sight. They won’t trust you, for good reason. I’m not entirely sure I do.”

Lotor leaned down, inputing coordinates into Keith’s screen. “Good to know.”

“So… You said half-sister…”

“She’s not even really… she was created in a petri dish.”

“She’s a- a clone?”

“If you want to call her that, yes. But a clone would imply that she is an exact genetic replica, when, well, she’s spliced. Zarkon _and_ Haggar’s DNA; they were trying to create a druid heir to the throne. Because I wasn’t good enough, apparently.”

“Wait. She’s… younger than you? Wait, what age did she have _me_ at?!”

Lotor held a hand up soothingly. “It’s alright. I was born first, but I was in a cryofreeze for nearly ten thousand years. Then they woke me up. I was about… five? By then, they’d already created your mother and aged her up to about twenty years old, so it was as if I were the younger sibling.” He chuckled. “It was an… interesting day they discovered she had no druid powers.”

“What happened?”

“She ran away a couple of years later. By the time we tracked her down to planet Earth, it was too late. Nine months too late.”

Keith blushed, although he wasn’t sure why. His father and mother had been married; his father had the band to prove it.

“She was gone, at that point, of course. Left to protect you and your father, for however much good that did you. She came to the command center while Haggar and Zarkon were out and asked me to protect you if they ever found you. I said of course, and she gave me a little communications device to keep in touch. One way. She could contact me, but I couldn’t contact her, in case Zarkon found out. That way he couldn’t contact her and hear vital information. She checked up fairly often. Asked how you were. That kind of thing.”

“And what did you tell her?”

“I told her that I hadn’t let Haggar get her hands on you. I couldn’t exactly tell her you were living the high life, could I?”

“But… if you consider her your half-sister… who was your mother?”

Lotor’s gaze softened. “An Altean alchemist. She died a couple of months after I was born, but I was told that she was loving and kind and brilliant.”

“What was her name?” Keith asked.

Lotor smiled, a genuine smile, not fake, not a cruel smile, but a real smile. “Honerva.”

Something struck a chord in Keith at that name, and he remembered something Tlatoani had said.

_I tracked down Haggar- did you know that her real name is Honerva?_

“Lotor? Do you know… do you know how your mother died?”

Lotor frowned. “No. But I _know_ Haggar had something to do with it. She showed up a few days after my mother died, or so I’m told. Another reason I can’t wait for my sword to meet her head.”

Keith glanced sideways at the Galra prince. “Oh, really? Cause I heard- uh- I heard a rumor that Haggar was actually an Altean alchemist. I think- I think they said her name was actually… um, well, I heard that her real name was Honerva.”

Lotor’s hand, which had been resting on the back of Keith’s chair, tightened suddenly, ripping into the chair. Keith jumped as Lotor snarled, “Whoever said that is a liar and should have their tongue ripped out.”

“Oh,” Keith said in a small voice, “Okay.” He stared at their course and tried to ignore the angry Lotor standing behind him. It wasn’t easy; he kept glancing at him out of the corner of his eye to make sure he didn’t have anything in his hands and that his hands weren’t anywhere near Keith. Eventually Lotor sighed and went to the back of the pod, and Keith felt the tension leave him. This was a _lot_ more stressing than he’d thought it would be. He wished he had someone to talk to, other than Lotor, of course. His eyes strayed to the com button that contacted the Castle. Maybe he did.

\-----------------

Lance jumped up from Pidge’s laptop, banging his head on Coran’s control console, as a little beeping noise interrupted the scanning program he was running. He pushed the button, rubbing his head and jumping about ten feet in the air when Keith’s face popped up on the screen.

“Keith?! What- where- we- Ah! Everybody’s been going _nuts_ looking for you, and you just show up on the screen- where the heck _are_ you?!”

“I’m kind of… um, I’m actually in the middle of nowhere.”

“Keith?” A British voice sounded behind Keith, somewhere off-screen, although someone seemed to be moving to the camera. “Who are you talking to? Is that the Castle?”

In a highly amusingly awkward move, Keith slammed the camera face-down so that Lance couldn’t see anything and the sounds of him tackling someone ensued.

“Shh- yes! Shut up! What do you think they’ll do if they see you?!”

“Get off!”

“Stay back here!”

“Fine! Just throw me in the back like I’m a piece of cargo, I don’t mind that at all!”

“We’re not on friendly enough terms for you to talk to me like that, now stay back here and be quiet!”

Lance raised a single eyebrow, highly amused by whatever was going on over there. “Uh, Keith? Everything okay?”

The camera flipped back to its original position, Keith looking slightly out of breath. “Uh, yeah, everything’s fine, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Who were you talking to?”

“Uh- I- ah- turns out I have an uncle! Yeah, he kind of found me and, uh, yeah. So, yup, that’s what’s happening.”

“An uncle? That’s cool, why are you stashing him in the back?”

Keith bit his lip, avoiding Lance’s eyes. “I- uh- he’s kind of weird looking.”

The British voice echoed out of the back. “ _Excuse_ me?!”

“I said hush!”

Lance raised an eyebrow, but decided not to say anything. It was much more amusing that way. “Okay. So, why’d you run off?”

Keith looked awkwardly at the ground. “This was _not_ as good of an idea as I thought.”

“No, seriously, everybody panicked! And then we found your armor, and- well, we all thought you got kidnapped!”

“I just… I’m slowing you down. And… I was kind of planning on coming back, but now…”

“Wait, so you found one, count him, uno uncle, and suddenly we don’t matter anymore?!”

“No, you do, I just-” Keith sighed. This _really_ was not going as planned. “You thought I was kidnapped. Why? No one can get into the Castle while it’s on lockdown; you _know_ that.”

“Well… I mean… Haggar…”

Keith shook his head. “And that’s _exactly_ why I left! You guys are going to have to constantly look over your shoulders, wondering where I am and whether or not I’m going to stab you in the backs, and _I can’t live like that_! I can’t! And the team shouldn’t _have_ to live like that. So. Yes. I left.”

“Just like that?”

Keith stared at the ground. “Yeah. Just like that.”

“You could’ve at least said goodbye!”

Keith looked up and saw that Lance’s face was twisted in anger, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

“Do you know how much we all panicked?! Allura was crying, Pidge was crying, Hunk just kept saying it was his fault, and Shiro! Do you _know_ what that did to Shiro?!”

“I-”

“He panicked! He panicked and I _swear_ I think he might have had a heart attack when he found out because _we thought you’d been kidnapped_! He was having flashbacks, and he _tried to hurt himself_! He was blaming himself, and you know what? He thought… he thought, somewhere in the back of his mind that maybe you hadn’t been kidnapped. He thought that you’d run away because you were scared of him, because of what happened in the arena, and he thought that you were scared of what would happen if he lost control.”

“I- I didn’t think-”

“Exactly,” Lance shouted, “You _don’t think_! You just jump right in based on whatever emotion is pushing and you don’t think about how it’ll affect the rest of us! Come back,” he whispered, “Come back home, Keith. We all miss you. We don’t care about whatever supposed control Haggar has over you, we don’t care about who’s going to fly what lion, we just want to be a family again.”

Keith turned away. “I- I can’t. I’m sorry, Lance, but I’m not scared that Shiro’s going to hurt me; I’m scared that I’m going to hurt him. Or any of you. I’m the reason my last family died; I don’t want to be the reason you do.”

“What are you even going to do out there? You and your uncle?”

“We’re going to find my mom.”

“Your _mom_?! But I thought…”

“That I hated her guts? Well. I still kind of do. But apparently, she actually cares. About me, I mean. Apparently, she sent my uncle to protect me.” He raised his voice a bit. “Although, I’m not entirely sure what a fat lot of good _that_ did me!”

“ _Excuse_ me, I’m beginning to think that maybe I shouldn’t search back here so diligently for a spacesuit for you since you didn’t see fit to bring your own!”

Lance gave a little smile at that slowly faded away. “Wait. That voice. Is that…”

Before he could arrive at a conclusion, Keith stood up. “Okay, sorry, have to go now, tell the rest of the team I said hi and tell Shiro that it’s not his fault, right, bye, I have some family bonding to do it’s going to be fun, bye!”

Keith slammed the off button and let out a sigh. _I have family bonding to do? It’s going to be fun?_ What kind of stupid things were pouring out of his mouth?! Lotor chuckled. “Well, you handled that well.” He tossed Keith a black bodysuit/spacesuit. “Put that on. We’re here.”

“Where’s _here_?”

Lotor gazed out the window at the structure before them. “Welcome to beta traz. Tightest security prison, and the last place I received contact from your mother.” He smiled, his sharp teeth gleaming. “There’s no better family reunion activity than a jailbreak.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... not well, I answer.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Watch in amazement as Keith cycles through ten different emotions at once. Or: Keith finally meets his mother. Due to unforeseen circumstances (a.k.a. my computer deleted 44 pages of writing before I could save), I won't be posting for a bit.

“And you’re absolutely sure she’s in here?”

Lotor rolled his eyes. “Of _course_ I am. And if not, then we get to find out what incredibly important person is being kept here.”

“I dunno, bringing me to a prison seems like a decent trap. ‘hey, look, it’s your mom’ ‘wow, really’ and then a cell door slams shut behind me. Like I said, decent trap. I don’t trust you.”

“Good, I don’t trust me either. But then, I can hardly trust you either. After all, your dear old grandmother has some molecule of control over you, and that makes you twice as likely to stab me in the back.”

“ _Don’t_ call her my grandmother. And doesn’t she have control over you too? Speaking of which, if she does, how have you not thrown yourself out of an airlock yet?”

“She doesn’t have control over me. I gave myself a chip that sends out small electric shocks whenever an abnormal brain signal with traces of her magic goes down my spine. I would get one rigged up for you, but… that’s likely a bad idea, for both our sakes.”

Keith stopped, his brain short-circuiting as he stared at Lotor. He actually figured it out. _Lotor_ , who had almost _killed_ him so many times and had been so cruel most of the time, had actually taken into account all of Keith’s past and decided that creating a shocking chip for him was a bad idea. _Allura_ hadn’t even thought of that!

“Are you coming,” Lotor called, “Or are you going to just stand there with your mouth open?”

\---------------

Lotor grabbed the back of Keith’s spacesuit and yanked him backwards. “Don’t take one more step.” 

“What?!” 

Lotor pointed grimly to a set of cameras and some panels in the wall that looked like they could come off. “Trapped. It’ll shoot off lasers. You’ll be full of bullet holes before you get three feet.” 

“So, what, we stop here?” 

Lotor glanced at the shutoff panel at the end of the hall and then at the ventilation shaft nearby. There was another ventilation shaft next to them, and Lotor looked at it, then at Keith. Keith shook his head. 

“Oh, no, I’m not going to- there is no way I will ever-” 

\------------------

“Stupid Lotor,” Keith grumbled as he wiggled through the ventilation shaft. There was enough room for him to move, but not enough to crawl normally, so he was stuck awkwardly army crawling and trying to haul himself the maybe ten feet it was until the next ventilation shaft. “Stupid ventilation shaft. Stupid lasers.” 

“Shh.” 

“Who’s going to hear me? Seriously, who?” 

“Those cameras might be sound operated as well as sight. I don’t particularly feel like being blasted to bits right now.” 

“Then why didn’t you crawl into the shaft?” 

“I’m too big. And besides,” Lotor continued with an amused tone to his voice, “It’s funnier for you to do it.” 

“I’ll show you funny,” Keith muttered, but his bad mood was abating a bit. Lotor… Keith was still scared, but being like this, with this funnier, more concerned side of Lotor that he’d never seen before… it was nice. It was almost as though Lotor had been imagining what things could’ve been like if they’d had normal childhoods since they were both small and, now that he didn’t have to act for the other Galra, he was slipping into that role. It was… actually a little endearing. 

Not that Keith really trusted him. No, he didn’t trust him as far as he could throw him, and he was still 90% certain that this was a trap. Either Lotor was acting to get his trust or… or maybe he was being genuine. Maybe this was what Lotor was really like under the cruel mask he put on most of the time. 

“Hello? Keith? Are there traps up there, or are you just slow?” 

“You know, you talk awful big for someone who wouldn’t even fit in the shaft!” 

“Don’t get your fur ruffled. I’m just fulfilling my duties as your uncle.” 

“You aren’t even that much older than me!” 

“Ah, but you forget, I’m thousands of years old.” 

“Cryo sleep time does not count!” 

“Oh, no. I was given guardianship of you, which makes me your technical superior, and I say it counts.” 

“A protection order doesn’t count as guardianship!” 

“Well, who else would be your guardian?” 

“No one! Shiro told me that I’m eighteen! That makes me a legal adult!” 

“Earth laws don’t apply out in space. You’re just a pup.” 

“I am not! And I’m not some kind of dog!” 

“Of course you’re not.” 

“Don’t patronize me!” 

Keith wriggled to the end of the shaft, yanking the cover off and sliding out, headfirst. 

He got stuck. 

“You’re kidding me,” he groaned, “Lotor, I’m stuck.” 

A snort echoed down from Lotor’s side of the hall. 

“It’s not funny!” 

“Yes, it is. Can you reach the access panel?” 

Keith strained, rocking back and forth and finally touching his fingertips to the panel. “Okay!” 

“Good, just keep your hand there.” Lotor came through the hallway, looking for all the world like he’d just wandered in here for a stroll. 

“Hurry,” Keith panted, his face flushed from the blood rushing to his head, “This is really uncomfortable!” 

Lotor came to a halt in front of Keith, one eyebrow raised. “Well, you seem to be in a bit of a tight spot.” 

“This was your genius idea, get me down.” 

“Oh, I don’t know. You look kind of adorable that way. Like a cat stuck in a jar. I think I should go find your mother and bring her to show her this touching moment.” 

“Lotor, I swear…” 

Lotor smirked. “Now, now, is that the best way to talk to your only hope?” 

“Get. Me. Down!” 

Footsteps echoed along the hallway, and Lotor shoved Keith back into the air vent. 

“Hey!” 

“Word of my father’s rise and the death penalty on my head might not have reached here yet. But you are very obviously a paladin, now hush and stay out of sight.” 

“Death penalty?” 

“Shh.” 

Keith watched through the grate of the shaft as a Galra soldier approached Lotor, staring straight ahead. When he sighted Lotor, he immediately bowed. 

“Repit Sa, sir!” 

“At ease, soldier.” 

The soldier relaxed, and then his expression shifted to confusion. “Wait, how did you get past-” He looked up at the shaft, and Keith shrank back, but it was too late. 

“Traitor!” 

Lotor punched the soldier in the jaw, dropping him. The prince started examining him. “I think he’s about my size, yes? It’s not like he’ll need this uniform.” Lotor stripped the armor off of his unconscious foe and started to put it on. Keith’s eyes narrowed when Lotor took his shirt off. Were those… whipping scars? No. There was no way- 

“Keith?” Lotor tilted his head up at the vent. “Are you coming down?” 

Keith slid out of the vent, feetfirst this time, and shoved hard enough that he slipped through. He landed lightly on the metal floor and glanced up at Lotor. “Nice outfit.” 

“I rather thought so. Let’s find one for you. There has to be a closet nearby or something.” 

Lotor opened a nearby door and smiled. “Break room.” He opened another door, revealing a closet full of uniforms. He pulled out one that would fit an average soldier, looked at Keith and grinned. “Too big.” 

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” 

“Just a little,” Lotor admitted. He moved down the rack and pulled out a smaller uniform, one that was closer to Keith’s size. “Ah. There we go.” 

“That looks more like it would fit Shiro than me.” 

“Stop complaining, it’s close enough.” 

Keith grumbled, but put on the uniform. Lotor froze when Keith took off his shirt and the prince grabbed Keith’s shoulder, pointing to a scar on his shoulder. “Where did that one come from? I know I didn’t give it to you.” 

“What?” 

“I… I remember every time. And I know that wasn’t one I gave you. Where’d it come from?” 

“Oh. Earth. I got shot.” 

“They did what?!” 

“They shot me. In their defense, I did look like a Galra.” 

“They shot you? After you saved them and everything?” 

“It’s fine, I-” 

“It is not fine! Your race is terrible!” 

“It wasn’t really their fault, I just-” 

“Never mind. I- never mind. Just put on your uniform.” 

Keith obliged. He didn’t understand; Lotor hadn’t ever expressed remorse for anything he’d done, but suddenly he wanted to wipe out the earth because they shot Keith. Keith sighed. He’d probably never figure Lotor out. 

\------------------

“Is this it?” 

“Looks right.” 

Ankarette looked up from the floor of her cell as voices echoed outside of the door. It slid open, revealing two guards, one about half the size of his counterpart. She raised an eyebrow. 

“Aren’t you a little short to be a Galra soldier?” 

The shorter one threw his hand up in the air. “Everyone! Every. Single. Person!” 

The taller one snorted. “Well, I can’t help it that you’re short.” 

“I’m. Not. Short!” 

“Yes, you- oof!” 

The air rushed out of the taller soldier as Ankarette rammed her shoulder into his stomach, making a break for the door. Evidently, these two were new; the other guards knew not to open the door by now, even to give her food- they had a special slot for that. She felt slightly bad, attacking these two rookies, but that was quickly eclipsed by her survival instinct. She wanted out. 

“Hey! Wait!” 

The smaller one grabbed her arm, refusing to let go. 

“Hold on, we’re-” 

She effectively cut off his next words with a punch to his throat, knocking him off of her and onto the ground where he gasped for air. She realized with a start that she’d knocked his too-big helmet off of his head, and she glanced back to see what she was dealing with. 

She froze, her eyes locking onto the wincing figure. He looked like… but he couldn’t be… 

“Keith?” 

He rubbed his throat, getting to his feet with a wince. “Well, that was not how I imagined our first meeting going. Hi. How’s it going, Mom?” 

Ankarette stared at her son- her son- who was now just awkwardly looking at the ground, as if he wasn’t sure what to do now. The taller guard- Lotor?!- came up behind him, putting one hand on his shoulder. Keith flinched- what was that about- but didn’t pull away. 

“Hello, Sister.” 

“Lotor.” 

“Is there something you’d like to say to Keith?” 

“Um. Hi.” 

“I was thinking more along the lines of a touching family reunion. Or perhaps a ‘sorry’ for leaving him all alone so that his father could die and he could be dragged to Zarkon’s central command, putting both of us in a terrible situation that I will likely regret for the rest of my life and that scarred Keith enough that he flinches whenever I enter a room.” 

Ankarette cleared her throat. “Um. Yes. Sorry. I thought… I thought I was protecting you.” 

“No.” Keith’s voice was quiet, but his eyes blazed with anger. “You were protecting yourself. You were scared of who you were and who your parents were, and you ran away.” 

Ankarette took a step back. When she’d left them- Keith just barely weaned- she’d never imagined that her baby would grow up to challenge her and be such a strong teenager- no, adult. 

“I…” 

“You could’ve taken us with you! You could’ve gone back for Lotor! We could’ve stayed together and been a family! But you ran off like a coward and because of that, Dad died, and I was a slave for ten years and Lotor was stuck in the politics of Zarkon- and- and- and you’re just a coward and you didn’t care! You didn’t care about any of us!” 

Keith’s shoulders were shaking now as all of the pent-up anger he’d stored towards his mother over the years could finally burst free, and he let it, let the flood pour out as he dropped down to his knees, tears leaking out of the corners of his closed eyes. 

“You didn’t care,” he whispered, “you didn’t care at all.” 

Someone gently brushed a tear away from his face, and he opened his eyes, his mother kneeling next to him. 

“Oh, Keith.” The anguish and heartbreak in his mother’s voice became painfully obvious, and Keith saw a line of tears trek down her face. “I did care. But you’re right. I was a coward. I never should’ve left you. You have every right to be angry; I was a terrible mother. And I know I can’t even begin to make it up to you. But… I would like… I hope that someday you can forgive me.” 

Keith launched himself onto his mother, wrapping his arms around her. She tensed for a moment, surprised, but relaxed and hugged him back. He cried into her uniform. “I missed you. I didn’t even know you, but I missed you so, so much.” 

Her tears were falling on his head now, a gentle rain. “I missed you too,” she whispered, “I wanted to see you so, so, badly. I just… couldn’t find away. But you’re all I ever wanted.” 

Keith glanced up to see Lotor standing awkwardly nearby. “Come on,” he said, his voice muffled against his mother, “You too.” 

“Oh- no- I’m not-” 

“Get over here.”

Lotor hesitantly knelt next to them, awkwardly putting his arms around them, actually hovering maybe an inch away. Keith’s mother grabbed the front of his armor and yanked him in, putting one of her arms around him. He relaxed and leaned in to her, crushing Keith a bit, but he didn’t mind.

The cold barrel of a gun pressed to Keith’s head, and he froze, inwardly cursing himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

“Well, isn’t this touching. The scum of the earth, all in one spot for a convenient kill. Except you, Lotor. Zarkon has _special_ plans for you.”

Keith’s mother quickly grabbed the gun out of Lotor’s belt and twisted her brother into a headlock, holding the gun up to his head. There was much shouting among the soldiers, and someone grabbed Keith’s wrists to make sure he didn’t run away. Quiznek. He _hated_ being a hostage.

“Ankarette. Put. The gun. Down.”

“I don’t think so,” she snarled, “Keith, Lotor and I are all walking out of here, or I’ll shoot Lotor.”

“Fine. Go ahead.”

Keith’s mother looked him directly in the eye and started to squeeze the trigger. She was only a hair away from actually shooting him when the commander sighed.

“Alright! Don’t! You called our bluff!”

She smiled. “You can’t let him die, can you? Zarkon wants him alive.”

“Get out of here.”

“Keith. Give him to me.”

“No. Holding him is the only thing holding you back from shooting us. We’re keeping him.”

“I’m _not_ leaving him here with you. That’s nonnegotiable. Let him go.”

“Take Lotor and go. We’ll release him once you’re away.”

“Yeah, you’ll ‘release’ his head from his shoulders or ‘release’ him into an arena! Let him go, or I shoot Lotor.”

“Why would you even _do_ that?”

“I know that death is better than whatever Zarkon has planned for him. And I know that death would be kinder than anything you’ll do to Keith and I. If it looks like we won’t get out, I’ll shoot all three of us. Don’t underestimate me. Now. Let. Keith. Go.” Her finger tightened on the trigger, and the commander shoved Keith towards her, slamming his hand on a panel that closed a door in between himself and the three Galra hybrids. Keith’s mother dropped the gun.

“Sorry, Lotor. Necessary evil.”

“Right. We’s better run before they realize that you’re not holding me hostage anymore. Are you alright, Keith?”

“I’m fine. Let’s go.”

\--------------

“Keith, you missed a call.”

Keith glanced at the little message. “Oh. It’s the Castle.”

His mother blinked. “Wait, the Castle? As in the Castle of Lions? As in the place where _Voltron_ is?”

“Oh, yeah. I was kind of a paladin.”

“You were _what_?!”

“Yeah, hold on-” Keith clicked a _play_ button, and Pidge’s face showed up on the screen. Was she… crying?

“Keith, Shiro- Shiro’s hurt really badly, and I know you left for a reason, but, _please_ , we _need_ you! Please, come back. Family, remember?” The video shut off, and Keith stared at the spot where it’d been for a moment. Shiro was hurt. Probably the whole team was in disarray. He _never_ should’ve left.

Keith glanced at his mother and Lotor. Well. If he hadn’t left, he never would’ve found them, would he? That was one thing.

“Keith,” his mother asked carefully, “did you get a girlfriend while I was away?”

Lotor snorted, and Keith shot him a glare. “Hey! I am _perfectly_ capable of getting a girlfriend if I want one! But, uh, no. She’s my, uh, well, my adoptive, self-proclaimed sister.”

“They need your help. You should go to them.”

Keith let out a short laugh, running his fingers through his bangs. “Ha- uh- well- I don’t-”

“C’mon, Keith! Introduce me to your new family! I can’t _wait_ to meet them!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, that's going to go well.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I live! Sorry that this took so long! Summary: Lotor bonds with the rest of the team featuring: 1) I will harness the power of the sun to make cookies. 2) Screw spa day, my boys are having a nerd night. 3) This got a lot cuter than I thought it would and my sister ships it now, help. 4) How did this dissolve into Keith bonding with Allura?

“Okay, guys, I need you to, uh- well, I need you to stay absolutely calm.” 

 “Why?”

Keith glanced at Lotor, who was standing out of view of the camera. “Uh, okay. Um, so, I found my mom, so, yeah, don’t freak out when I bring a seemingly random Galra on board.”

Hunk grinned. “You found your mom! Keith, that’s great, is she nice?”

“Think your next words through very carefully,” Keith’s mom said with a grin, “Think very, _very_ carefully.”

“She’s… an adventure.”

“Good enough. I will take that.”

“Right. Also. So. Remember that uncle I said that I had?”

“The weird looking one,” Lance remembered, “Yeah, you wouldn’t let him on the screen.”

Keith let out a deep breath. “Well. So. Weird looking isn’t really the problem. Alright. This is where I need you to all stay calm and keep your blood pressure down.”

“Keith! Spit it out!”

“My uncle’s Lotor,” Keith said in one breath, “please don’t kill him.”

“He’s _what_?!”

“Lance-”

“You’ve been _traveling_ with him?!”

“Allura-”

Pidge edged towards Coran’s control panel. “Wait, is Haggar controlling you?!”

“Pidge, no, don’t use the electricity gun, it’s me, I promise-”

“Is is even really your mom, or a trick?”

“Hunk, it’s her, I’m not under control, ah! Guys! Calm. Down!”

“How can you _possibly_ trust him?!”

“Allura, listen, I-”

“No, Keith, _you_ listen! I don’t know what’s going on with you, but you have to realize that he’s lying and just wants to get on the Castle!”

“When was the last time Lotor actually _lied_ to us,” Keith roared, “When has he ever actually _lied_?!”

All of the paladins frowned, trying to recall a particular time.

“That’s right! He’s never actually _lied_ to us! He’s only ever outwardly tried to kill us; he’s never tried to disguise it as anything else or even tricked us. And he hasn’t tried to kill me yet.”

“Exactly! That’s out of character, so it must be a trick!”

Keith threw his hands up in the air. “Fine! I’m leaving! I left for a reason, and the _only_ reason I came back was because Shiro was injured and Pidge wanted to be a family again! If you can’t accept the fact that I have another family, then _fine_!  If I’d known that my family was so judgmental and prejudiced, I wouldn’t’ve come back!”

“Keith, I think you’re forgetting something very crucial; Lotor has tried to kill us or torture us so many times! We can’t just trust him, just like that, you should know, you had the worst of it!”

“Hello. May I join in this conversation?”

“Go away, Lotor.”

“I think not. You see, I have one crucial piece of evidence that may or may not change your mind; I sent Merla to get you out. I’m the one who helped you escape.”

“Wait, what, who is Merla?”

“I think the red paladin knows.”

Lance frowned. “Wait… when she said she had a friend who had connections…”

Lotor nodded. “She meant me. And my family ties to Keith. Get it, paladins? I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help.”

“Why? Don’t you want the universe? Weren’t you trying to conquer it?”

“Oh, yes. Of course I do. But my father and I… we have different opinions on how the universe should be run. I do not believe in his methods, and I believe… well, I’m not entirely sure that my father is himself. The witch, Haggar’s fault, no doubt. I want nothing more than to rid the universe of her control permanently, and you are my best chance to do that. That and I want to stay with my true family.”

Keith’s mother punched him in the arm. “Shut up, you big sap. You’re going to make me cry.”

Keith looked the rest of the paladins in the eyes. “I trust him. Do you trust me?”

Allura frowned, eyeing Lotor through the screen. She’d seen what he could do, back when she’d been on the command center; she didn’t trust him farther than she could throw him, and she was extremely tempted to find out exactly how far that was out of an airlock.

“Fine,” she snapped, “but I’m keeping eyes on him all of the time.”

“Even when I’m asleep?” Lotor asked with a smirk, “Because that seems a little-”

“All. Of. The. Time.”

“Fair enough.”

Keith let out a sigh of relief. Everything was going to be fine. He piloted the pod to the open hangar. “Alright. I’m coming in.”

\----------------

Keith walked down the airlock with a grin as his friends greeted him, Ankarette and Lotor staying behind in the shadows. He looked back, rolled his eyes, and gestured for them to come down the ramp. Ankarette noticed how Allura’s eyes followed her, taking in her prison uniform and her unkempt appearance, nodding quietly to herself. Then her eyes locked on Lotor, and she scowled, hatred flashing in her eyes. Ankarette made a mental note to ask Lotor why exactly everybody hated him. 

Lotor started to walk down the ramp, eyeing everybody suspiciously; they didn’t trust him, and he wasn’t sure they wouldn’t shoot him ‘just in case.’

Allura put one hand on his chest- dang, she was beautiful, too bad she hated his guts- stopping him in his tracks. “I just want you to know that if you put one toe over the line, or even so much as _think_ about betraying us, I won’t hesitate to kill you. I won’t even feel bad about it. I don’t know _what_ you told Keith to get him to trust you, but I don’t, and never will. So just _try_ me, and see how fast I turn your life into a living hell before ending it.”

Lotor smirked a little. “You can’t turn my life into what it already is.” He kept walking, coolly keeping his distance from the hostile princess.

\-----------------

“Hey. Want a milkshake?” 

Lotor looked away from the window he was staring out of at the yellow paladin, who was offering him a- a milkshake?

“What is a… milkshake?”

“Just try it,” the yellow- Hunk, _that_ was his name- urged him, “You’ll like it.”

Lotor cautiously took the drink out of the yellow paladin’s hands, half expecting it to explode or something. Hunk sighed.

“I promise I’m not trying to poison you.”

“What’s in this?”

“Milk.”

“Where do you get milk from?”

“A- a cow. It’s an Earth thing.”

“Did you go back to Earth?”

“No, we went to a mall and- you know what, it’s a long story. Just try some.”

Lotor took a sip, still eyeing Hunk suspiciously. The Galra prince’s eyes shot up in surprise. He _liked_ this! He quickly began to slurp it, Hunk’s eyes widened in horror.

“No, don’t drink it too fast, you’ll-”

Lotor yelped as his brain- ah- what- his head felt like a numbing cold had spread into it- what had just-

“-get a brain freeze,” Hunk finished.

“Did you poison me?!” Lotor gasped, holding onto his head.

“No, it’s a brain freeze, calm down, you’ll be alright in a moment.”

Lotor felt the numbness sink away, but his head still hurt. “What- _brain freeze_?!”

“Uh, not literally frozen. I- it just happens when you drink something cold too fast. Sorry. I should’ve warned you. I mean, apparently Alteans don’t get brain freezes, and I figured the Galra didn’t either. Or even if they did, then you’re half-Altean, and I thought… ah, never mind. Just… don’t drink it too fast.”

Lotor eyed his milkshake suspiciously. “Why are you being so nice?”

“Oh. Um. Well, I figured since Keith and his mom and Allura are all discussing important Voltron stuff and didn’t invite you, you might need someone to keep you company. Or something.”

“Exactly! Why are you being so nice?! I was terrible to you!”

“Yeah, you kind of were. But you had reasons, right? Keith told me… he told me you were protecting him.” The disapproval in Hunk’s voice was abundantly clear, and Lotor grimaced at the thought that Hunk might have seen the scars left behind by Keith’s time with him.

“I thought I was,” Lotor mumbled, “It probably would’ve been kinder to shoot him than to keep him. That brought… nothing but pain for both of us.”

“…Both of you?”

Lotor shook his head, clearing the dark thoughts away. “Nothing, I just… nothing. I should probably go stand under a camera or something so that Allura knows where I am.”

“You could come with me,” Hunk offered suddenly, “I’m making some cookies; you could help.” He almost seemed surprised by the words coming out of his mouth, and Lotor deduced that he wasn’t under Allura’s command to watch Lotor.

“Why would you want me with you?”

“You’re on our team now, aren’t you? I mean, I should probably get to know you. Team bonding. Let’s make some cookies.” He smiled at Lotor, who hesitantly smiled back. He could learn to be friends with this one. 

\-------------

Hunk surveyed the blackened lumps on the cookie sheet. “Lotor… what did you set the oven to?” 

 “3,500 degrees, of course. I thought we could bake them faster.”

“That’s… not how cooking works. Okay. Um. Well. This is okay. We can work with this. I’m assuming you’ve never cooked anything before?”

Lotor shook his head. “Never.”

“What _do_ they teach in school these days,” Hunk muttered, “Okay! Basic fundamentals of cooking! Watch and learn, pupil!”

\---------------

Keith stared at a plate of yellow and purple cookies. “Lotor… made cookies… Um. What?” 

Hunk beamed. “It took a few tries, but I managed to teach him that you _can’t_ set the oven higher to cook things faster and that he can’t forget that they’re in there, but, yes! We made cookies!”

“And… do they actually taste good?”

“Nephew, I am hurt, absolutely _crushed_ that you think that I can’t cook.”

“The fact that you thought turning the temperature of the oven up was a good idea is not helping my confidence levels, no.”

“Thanks.” Lotor raised one eyebrow at Allura, who was standing behind Keith. “By the way, Princess, before you ask, they’re not poisoned.”

Allura turned bright red. “I wasn’t- I didn’t-”

“Yes, you did.”

Allura shut her mouth and glared.

“They taste fine,” Hunk quickly interrupted before the two could start arguing, “Just try one!”

“Hunk is a good teacher,” Lotor commented, “There would’ve been many more burned cookies had I attempted this on my own.”

Hunk smiled modestly. “Well, I try.”

\---------------

Lance yawned and sat up in bed, wondering to himself if he could transfer his bedroom somewhere further from the training deck. Couldn’t Keith sleep in his bed for one night? He’d barely gotten back, and already he was waking Lance up with all of his clanging and bot-fighting! Lance was beginning to suspect that he’d come back for the gladiator bots, not his fellow paladins. 

 “Keith, he mumbled as he walked into the training deck, “It’s the middle of the night, go to-” He stopped. Keith was _not_ the one fighting. Lance threw his arms up in the air. “I _swear_ , is this some kind of family issue?! You can’t go to sleep?!”

Lotor sliced through the gladiator bot and then turned to face him. “What are _you_ doing in here?”

“Trying to get some peace and quiet, but _apparently_ , that’s impossible around here! You and Keith both! I _swear_!”

“Keith and I both?”

“Yes! I mean, I know you two are related, but _geeze_ I didn’t think that you both had a penchant for never going to sleep and fighting at all hours of the night! I know Keith did it because of stress and guilt, but why are _you_ in here?!”

“Stress and guilt.” Lotor started another match, and Lance sat down with a sigh. If he wasn’t going to be able to go to sleep, he might as well watch.

“So. What are _you_ stressing over?”

“New place,” Lotor said as he blocked a strike, “New place filled with people who hate me and want to throw me out of an airlock. Hard to sleep with those kinds of thoughts hovering over my head.”

“Trust me,” Lance yawned, “We would _never_ throw you out of an airlock while you were asleep. That’s dishonorable. We’d have a biased trial and then drag you, kicking and screaming out of an airlock.”

“Comforting. And I would never kick and scream; everybody in the Castle would be unanimously trying to kill me, there’s no point in screaming.”

“Fair point. Why are you feeling guilty? I mean, I could give a million reasons, but I didn’t even know you felt guilt.”

“I feel guilt all of the time.” Lotor countered the robot’s strike with one of his own, but the bot dodged. “Mostly guilt of when I lost control, but also guilt over everything I did when I _was_ in control.”

“If you’re going to feel guilty about it, why do you do it?”

“Because I have to.” Lotor finished off the robot and then turned to Lance. “Because the universe didn’t give me a choice. Because sometimes the only option is in between two bad choices, and what kind of choice is that?” He glanced down at Lance. “Has your foot always been metal?”

Lance glared at him in complete and utter shock. The guy had literally _just_ said he felt guilty about everything he did, and now… “You stabbed it and I had terrible frostbite,” he said incredulously, “What, did you think I’d grow a new one?”

Lotor frowned. “I never stabbed your foot.”

“Yes! Yes, you did! On an ice planet? Remember that?”

“I… I haven’t been on an ice planet in three years.”

“Hello? EMP devices? Lots of snow? Apparently, Keith dropped a giant payload of snow on your head?”

“I- no, when was this?”

“I don’t know, maybe a month?”

Lotor frowned. “Last month I was on a diplomatic trip.”

“Do you really expect me to believe that?! You don’t do diplomacy!”

“My father didn’t. Haggar didn’t. I, however, did. I believe in self-governing planets, and I promise you, I was not on _any_ ice planet within the last two months.”

“Well, it looked an awful lot like you.”

“But what… Haggar. It must’ve been. There’s no other explanation.”

“Except for the explanation that you’re _lying_.”

“Why would I stab you in the foot?”

“I don’t know, why would you do _any_ of the terrible things you did?! You almost let Haggar drain my quintessence!”

“I… well. Yes. I did.”

“What’s your brilliant defense for _that_?”

“To be honest, I don’t really have one. I thought Keith had actually come back on his own, and I thought that it would be easier to get him to stay if we didn’t have another human on board. I mean, I was Emperor of the universe. If I didn’t want to hurt my slave, then no one could stop me. I could keep him with me until I figured out where Ankarette was.”

“Gee, sorry for throwing a wrench in your plans.”

“I’m sorry for trying to kill you.”

Lance snorted, but when he looked up at the Galra prince, Lotor actually looked… sincere. Like he really _was_ sorry for trying to kill them all. Faking it? Maybe.

“So. Allura trusts you about as much as I would trust a hungry bear in a kitchen, but, I mean, if you’re going to be on our side… what’s Haggar planning?”

“I wish I knew. I believe she wants Voltron in order to create a hole in the fabric of reality.”

“Why would she want that?!”

“In those gaps there are _extreme_ amounts of quintessence- if she could get her hands on that much power…”

“Got it.”

“Also, my father is not completely up to his normal status. He’s in a bad state, and he relies on a suit of armor to keep him alive. If she could get her hands on enough quintessence, she could- what’s so funny?”

Lance was shaking from suppressed laughter, and he waved a hand. “Nothing, nothing. Keep going.”

“What are you laughing at?”

“You wouldn’t get it. It’s an Earth thing.”

“So tell me.”

“It’s just… it’s a movie. Wait. Would that make you Luke Skywalker? Oh, quiznek, that makes you Luke Skywalker!”

“What?! A- movie- Luke- what?!”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Right, right, you’re an alien, you don’t get- alright, well, I’m not doing anything, I feel pretty awake, let’s go watch _Star Wars_.”

“Why- we’re _in_ a star war over the whole universe! Why would you want to watch a fictional movie over the life we’re living?!”

“Because we can! Earth culture appreciation! First step of operation team bonding _Star Wars_ style: We steal Pidge’s laptop!”

Lotor’s eyes widened in horror. “No…”

“She _thinks_ I don’t know about all of the pirating sites with movies she’s got on there, but that’s what she gets for leaving it unattended for an hour!”

“She _will_ kill us, you understand that, right?”

Lance bounced up, heading for the door. “What’s life without a few risks?”

“Your life is literally one big risk,” Lotor called after him, “How many risks do you count as a few?!”

Lance quietly opened Pidge’s door. She was snoozing, leaning against the wall with the laptop in her lap. He quietly inched back out, motioning Lotor to follow him Lance studied the air vent.

“I think you’ll fit in there too. Okay. Plan B.”

xxx

“Lower… lower… almost… lower…”

Lotor carefully scooted Lance a few inches more out of the ventilation shaft. “You know, if I dropped you and you landed in her lap, I could get away and let you take the brunt.”

“That would be underhanded!”

“Lance, I _excel_ at underhanded.”

“You’re a real jerk, did you know that?”

“You know, insults are not a good way to keep yourself from getting dropped.”

“Shut up, you. Two inches.” Lance snagged the laptop, carefully lifting it out of her lap without her noticing and motioning for Lotor to drag him back up. He yelped softly as his head bumped the edge of the vent coming back in. “You did that on purpose,” he accused.

Lotor raised a single eyebrow, smirking. “Prove it.”

xxx

Lotor burst out laughing, and Lance eyed him sideways. “That was _hardly_ the funniest part of this movie. Why are you laughing so hard?”

“Do- do you think Ankarette watched this movie when she was on Earth?”

“I dunno, why?”

“When- when Keith and I walked into her cell, she looked at Keith and said ‘aren’t you a little short to be a Galra soldier.’ Do you think…”

Lance stared at him. “She _didn’t_!”

“She did.”

Lance made a little choking noise. “Nobody- ah- nobody would’ve gotten it! We haven’t- we haven’t shown Keith these movies yet and- ah! Why are all good nerd references wasted on people who can’t understand them?! Although,” he said, leaning back on the couch, “I will say, Keith and his family are a lot less weird and terrible than I thought they’d be.”

It took a few seconds for Lotor to realize that this included him, and a warm feeling spread in his chest, similar to the one he felt when Hunk had been making cookies with him. It was nice. He liked it. It was nice, he thought to himself, leaning back to watch more lightsaber fighting (that was his favorite part- _swords_ that deflected _lasers_ ), it was nice being accepted.

xxx

“Oh, man,” Lance yawned as the credits of the last movie rolled, “I am going to be so dead. Allura’s going to kill me.” 

 “She might not have to,” Lotor commented, “I’m fairly certain that Pidge is going to find that her laptop is gone soon.”

“Argh!” The two boys heard a shout from the bedrooms, and they stared at each other in horror. “ALRIGHT! WHO TOOK MY LAPTOP?!”

“Run and pretend the mice took it?” Lance asked timidly. Lotor nodded, his face a mask of terror. In unison achieved by the bond that only binge-watching _Star Wars_ all night could give, they both vaulted over the back of the sofa and ran for their lives.

\-----------------

“Hello, green paladin.”

“Go away.”

“Do you need any help?”

“I don’t know how you suckered Lance and Hunk into trusting you, but my fingers hurt every time you walk into my vicinity, so don’t think that I’ll fall for whatever sneaky tricks you played on them.”

“I didn’t play any tricks.”

“Oh, yeah? What’d you do?”

“I baked cookies with Hunk, and I watched _Star Wars_ with Lance.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them as Pidge’s eyes honed in on him like a heat-seeking missile.

“Oh, really,” she asked casually, “And _what_ exactly did you watch _Star Wars_ on, pray tell?”

Lotor grimaced. “Your… laptop…”

“I knew it. Get out of here before I taser you with my bayard.”

“You wouldn’t-”

Pidge pulled out her bayard. “I would. Get out.”

“I-”

“Three. Two.” Lotor was gone before she reached one.

Xxx

“Green paladin-”

Pidge waved her bayard vaguely and Lotor kept a respectful distance. “I was just wondering-”

“Go flirt with Allura. I want to watch her throw you out of an airlock.”

“No, thank you. I was wondering- you looked like you might be having trouble, and I thought-”

“You can’t help me. _Hunk_ was having trouble with this; he’s baking something to clear his brain.”

“Could I just have a look? I mean, two, or three heads in this case, I suppose, are better than one, correct?”

Pidge let out a sigh and turned her laptop to Lotor. “Fine. It’s Galra, and I can’t figure it out. It might be easier if I spoke the language, but as it is, I’m trying to muddle through with coding.”

Lotor frowned at the computer and started typing, his hands dancing over the keyboard as he stared at the screen, completely engrossed in what he was doing. He was gently biting his tongue, the tip sticking out between his teeth and lips, and Pidge almost laughed at that, the mighty Prince Lotor, overall jerk and bane of her existence, hunched over a computer with his tongue out.

Lotor finally finished his work, sitting back with a sigh. Pidge was eating a sandwich, watching him with interest and some small amount of amusement.

“When did you get a sandwich?”

“Eh, about ten minutes ago. Have to admit, that was pretty impressive.”

“Ten minutes ago? Come on, is half a vargas _really_ that long to sit and make sure I don’t sabotage your laptop?”

“You were on that for five hours.”

“No. No, I wasn’t.”

“Oh, yeah. You kind of were.” Pidge hopped off of her perch on her bed and took the laptop back. She whistled. “Huh. You did it. I’ve been working on this for _days_.”

Lotor shrugged. “I’m good with the Galra computer systems. Not many friends. Scratch that, no friends. No friends, lots of time on my hand, and _plenty_ of computers. I learned the system. And it did probably help that I could read the language.”

Pidge could relate a bit. Before Hunk had wandered into her life, computers had been her only friends. She inspected every inch of the now up-and-running program, smiling. Huh. He’d really done it.

“I could teach you, if you want,” he blurted out, “I could teach you the Galra language.”

Pidge eyed him suspiciously. “What are you trying to pull? What’s the catch?”

“There is no catch. Knowing the language of the people you’re trying to beat is a valuable skill. And I think you’re smart enough to learn it.”

Pidge tried not to smile. She didn’t think Lotor was trustworthy, but something about him was pressuring her into liking him, something about the way he was sincerely complimenting her. Sneaky. She had to admit, he had pizzazz.

“Alright,” she said, plopping down on the floor next to him, “Teach away.”

Xxx

Hunk peeked into Pidge’s bedroom, sighing as he thought that he was going to have to tell her he still had no idea what to do about her program, and was surprised when a squawk of laughter that he recognized as Pidge’s emanated from the room. Lotor and Pidge were sitting cross-legged on the ground, and Lotor was grinning to himself, apparently happy that he’d made the green paladin laugh. 

 “You- are- terrible,” she panted, swatting him, “Why- never mind, I don’t even want to know.”

Lotor grinned. “Are you sure? It’s a pretty interesting-”

Pidge threw a pillow at his face. “No!”

Hunk slid out of the room, smiling to himself. Looked like Pidge and Lotor were getting along just fine.

Xxx

Pidge yawned as she kept staring at the laptop screen, trying to hack a code. A little message pinged and she clicked on it. It was in Galran, and she frowned. Who could possibly…” 

_You’re working too hard._

Pidge’s frown deepened. _No, I’m not,_ she typed back, still in Galran

_Go to sleep._

_How do you even know I’m working? How do you know I didn’t just wake up at the ping?_

_Your light’s on._

_And how do you know that, wise guy?_

_I’m in the training deck. I can see it._

_Why aren’t **you** asleep?_

_Because. Stop working, you’re going to collapse from exhaustion._

_Maybe I’m doing something relaxing._

_No, you’re working._

_And how would you know that?_

_You keep slipping into English._ Pidge cursed as she realized he was right. She wasn’t typing in Galran all the time. _Go to sleep, Pidgeon._

_Fine, you unexpectedly over-worried mother-hen. You go to sleep too, you little hypocrite._

_Good night._

Pidge was about to close the laptop, when it pinged again.

_Don’t let the hacker viruses bite._

Pidge smiled and closed the laptop, turning off her light and watching the light in the training deck shut off. It was nice to know someone cared.

Xxx

 “Princess.”

“What’s your game?!”

Lotor spread his hands in a _what do you want from me_ gesture. “I was saying hello as we passed in the hallways, why does everything have to be a trick?!”

“Because somehow, someway, you’ve managed to coerce or trick all of the other paladins into falling into you ‘good guy’ act, and I’m. Not. Falling. For it.” She poked him in the chest with each word and gave him a suspicious glare before walking away. He shook his head. Stubborn princess.

Xxx

“Allura, druid!”

Allura turned and blocked the druid’s strike at Keith’s warning, throwing lightning of her own. Of course that distress call had been a trap. But evidently, they had thought Allura had been on the Castle. Joke was on them. There was no way-

“Allura, _look out_!”

Something shoved her, and she saw lightning arcing into the spot where she’d been. Another druid had appeared behind her while she was fighting the first. A trap within a trap. Lotor had prevented that.

Allura knelt by the shuddering prince’s side as Keith engaged the druids, shouting fiercely.

“You _idiot_ ,” she yelled, “You could’ve just warned me! I would’ve blocked it!”

“That- that would’ve been nice- nice to know… But- I mean- would you have- would you have trusted me- enough to turn your back on- on the first druid?”

Allura opened her mouth to reply and then shut it again.

“Allura,” Keith called, “You go on ahead- I think there might be a druid-fueled trap over there. I’ll get my idiot relative back to the Castle.”

“You- you know- I’d think that you’d all be- just a bit- nicer- considering that I’m dying…”

“Stop whining. You’ll be fine. _I_ survived getting hit by _Haggar_. You should be able to survive this just fine, Lotor.”

Allura rolled her eyes a bit but went on ahead. Keith glanced after her before lowering his voice, amusement laced in his tone.

“Did you do that just to get her to trust you?”

“Don’t know- what- you’re- talking about. I do- heroic things- _all_ \- of the time.”

Keith rolled his eyes and started hauling the prince up, half-dragging him out of the tunnels to the black lion. “Lotor, you are absolutely full of it.”

“You know,” Lotor said wistfully, “it- it would be nice- for you to call me- ‘Uncle-’ just _one_ time- before I die.”

Keith looked his dying uncle deep in the eyes, opening his mouth to speak and deliver the desired word. “No.”

Xxx

“How’s he doing?”

Keith looked away from the cryo pod where Lotor lay, asleep while the pod corrected whatever damage had been done by the lightning. Huh. Allura. She’d been the last person he’d expected to check on how Lotor was doing.

“He’s doing fine,” Keith answered in reply to her question, “He’ll survive.”

“I think he saved my life,” Allura said softly. “He’s taller than I am. It hit him in the chest, but that… that height would’ve equivocated to my head. I don’t know if I would’ve survived that.”

“You might’ve. You’re strong that way.”

She hesitantly smiled at the compliment. “Why do you do this?”

“What?”

“Every time someone gets injured, you stand outside the pod until they get out. Why?”

Keith blinked, as if he hadn’t realized that he did it until she’d said it. “I- uh- I don’t know. It just seems…” His hand curled into a fist, but not an angry one. “right. Like, I don’t know, I know that they can’t hear me or see me or even tell that I’m here, but I still… They shouldn’t be alone.” His shoulders were shaking a little, but Allura couldn’t tell why. “No one should be alone.”

“Is that why… is that why you accepted Lotor so quickly? Because he was alone?”

“I… I guess.”

“Even after… everything?”

“I just… I can’t help but imagine… If I’d been in his shoes… I don’t know how I would’ve turned out.” Keith bit his lip, staring at the pod. He’d… never really talked to anyone about that… particular issue… what if she laughed? Or-

Allura put a hand on his shoulder. “You would’ve been you. I can’t claim to know how Lotor would’ve turned out in different circumstances, but I _do_ know that no matter _where_ you grew up, you’d still be you. You’d still be Keith. Nothing would change that. Nothing _could.”_

“But…”

Allura embraced him, cutting off his next words. “Keith. Don’t worry about it. You _didn’t_ grow up somewhere else. You _weren’t_ in Lotor’s shoes. You’re Keith. Our Keith. Our fighter who never gives in.”

The pod hissed open, and Lotor smirked, somehow completely recovering the instant he was out.

“Am I interrupting something?”


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is mistrusted for his heritage, but on the opposite side of the spectrum.

“Everybody, I have a new diplomacy mission!”

The paladins all collectively groaned, and Allura frowned.

“You should all be excited about this! We’re freeing the universe from Zarkon, one planet at a time! It’s not all going to be flying your lions and fighting!”

“Allura’s right,” Lotor said, his face somehow completely straight, “Diplomacy is very important.”

Keith threw a cushion at Lotor. “Traitor! Stop agreeing with her! She already more or less trusts you, lay off!”

Lotor swatted the pillow out of the air with a grin. “But I _do_ think that, nephew! Diplomacy is _very_ important.”

Keith made a grunt/groan combination, and Lance just blinked at Lotor.

“Didn’t you go and _conquer_ planets? How is _that_ diplomacy?!”

“Sometimes a show of power is necessary. It’s essentially what you’re doing when you show Voltron off to them.”

“Show of _arms,_ ” Coran protested, “It’s different! Conquering a planet is _not_ the same as a show of power!”

Lotor waved a hand. “We had some disagreements. But the _point_ is, diplomacy is important. Now hush and listen to Allura.”

Allura gave him a grateful but slightly distrustful look. “Thank you, Lotor.” Lotor gave the rest of them smug glances behind her back. “Anyway,” she continued, “this planet has somehow escaped the notice of the Galra and wish to join the fight. They have asked to see three of us. Keith, I believe as the black paladin, you should be there. Pick who shall accompany you.”

Keith nodded. “Allura, I want you along, and… Lotor.”

“Me?!”

“ _Him?_!”

“You trust _me_ on a diplomatic mission?”

“No, I just don’t trust you while you’re not in my line of sight.”

“Fair enough.”

“Are you sure about this, Keith? I mean, if they want to join a fight against the Galra…”

“I just- I have this feeling about this planet. Like I shouldn’t bring the other paladins. Some instinct.”

“Are- are you sure? I mean, basing everything off of one feeling…”

Keith frowned. “I really think that this is important. And the last time I ignored the feeling that something was off… that last time was Earth.”

The other paladins gulped. Maybe Keith was right. Maybe they shouldn’t go down there.

Allura sighed. “Alright. If you’re sure.”

Keith nodded. “Positive.”

\-------------

“The communications said that they’d send a delegation to meet us- they’ve kept their village a secret for so long, they’re not going to risk the Galra finding them now. They should be here any minute-” 

Her words were cut off as an arrow whizzed out of the trees, heading directly towards Keith’s heart. Lotor reached out like it was nothing and plucked the arrow out of the air, eyeing it disdainfully.

“Atlatl. Not even a proper bow. What _is_ the universe coming to?” Three more arrows raced towards Keith, and he barely managed to move in time. Allura and Lotor both moved protectively in front of the black paladin, and the firing ceased.

“You are harboring a criminal,” a voice squeaked, “Release him to us, and you shall not be harmed!”

“What is his crime?” Allura demanded, facing the bush, “As far as we know, no crimes have been committed by him on this planet.”

“His birthright is his crime! Our laws say to shoot him on sight!”

Keith threw his hands up in the air. “I _swear_ I can’t get a break!”

“Our companion is of Galra origin, and yet you have targeted only my paladin. Explain yourself.”

“He is human! Our law demands that humans must be shot on sight!”

“Oh. That’s new.”

“I’m a quarter Galra,” Keith shouted quickly, “And a quarter Altean! I’m only half-human!”

“Oh.” A small congregation of little… honestly, they looked like a bunch of miniature Cousin Its, wandered out of the bushes, still holding their atlatls, all of them whispering frantically to each other.

“-Only half human-”

“-What is the protocol-”

“-Sure that there’s a legal wraparound-”

“Excuse me,” Allura interrupted, “But did you or did you not send for Voltron?”

“Well… yes, but- by the ancients, what’re y _ou_?!”

“I’m an Altean.”

This started another round of muttering.

“-thought we had protocol for Alteans-”

“-they’ve been dead for milleniums-”

“-think we took our protocols down-”

“-sure that there’s a legal wraparound-”

“-but can we legally kill them-”

“-I don’t know-”

“Excuse me,” Allura tried again, “We are the representatives of Voltron, and we’d like to-”

The lead creature pointed at Lotor. “And _what_ , pray tell, is _that_?”

Lotor raised an eyebrow. “I’m a Galra.”

All of them nodded knowledgeably, making “ah” noises.

Allura frowned. “What’s your protocol for Galra soldiers?”

The leader scratched his head thoughtfully. “Well, I don’t see that we really have one. When the Galra got here, protocol wouldn’t matter. I think our protocol was to run around screaming.”

The little aliens started running around in terror, screaming. Lotor smirked.

“I’m half-Altean,” he called, “What’s your protocol for that?”

They stopped running and started muttering again, Allura sending Lotor and exasperated glare for submitting them to this again.

“-half-Altean-”

“-do Altean protocols apply-”

“-are the Galra protocols what we need-”

“-sure that there’s a legal wraparound-”

“-what should we do-”

After they finished conferring, the lead creature stepped up to face them. “We have decided,” he announced, “That we will not kill you.”

“Thank heavens,” Lotor muttered to Keith, “I was just so _very_ worried about all of the democratic processes that might require. The weapons are almost as scary.”

Keith snorted and Allura shot them both withering glances. “That is… wonderful,” she said to the leader, “What shall we discuss instead?”

“Well, we’re also not going to follow protocol for Galra, on account of him being half-Altean.”

“Excellent news.”

“But, you see, we _did_ have a protocol for Alteans a long time ago, and we need to find out if it still stands.”

“Of course.”

“And, begging your pardon Miss, but we’re going to have to lock up your human. See, we _do_ have protocol for humans, but we aren’t sure what to do on account of his mixed blood. It may be illegal to shoot him on sight.”

“I still think there’s a legal wraparound,” one of the creatures muttered, “There’s a loophole in most laws if you look for them.

“I see. Um, Keith…”

Keith sighed, holding out his wrists for the lead creature’s handcuffs. “Yeah, yeah. For the sake of diplomacy. Just don’t let them kill me.”

“I’m sorry,” Allura whispered, “I’ll try to get this resolved as quickly as possible. But you know what? I’m _really_ glad we listened to your instinct. Bringing one of the other paladins would’ve resulted in their deaths.”

“Sorry, Miss. You can’t talk to him.”

“Excuse me, I don’t understand what the problem with humans is exactly. Could you please explain?”

“Humans are little nature destroyers!”

“Oh, look who’s calling who little, you come up to my waist!”

“Keith, please.”

“Allura, they’re nature fanatics! What the actual quiznek! I thought that was, like, one of those weird Earth things that I missed out on!”

“Keith-”

“ _Nature fanatics_ , Allura, _nature fanatics_ who want to kill all humans for destroying nature! Why have we not found out about this before?”

“Uh…”

“This is hilarious! They’re, like, two feet tall!

“I can’t tell,” Lotor whispered to Allura, “if he’s actually that amused by this, or if he’s trying to hide how this really feels.”

Allura sighed, resisting the urge to run her fingers through her hair or fiddle with her tiara. “I didn’t want this, but I thought that if we tried to leave…”

“They would’ve shot Keith,” Lotor finished. “I agree. You made the right choice.” He gazed after his nephew. “I _really_ hope that we don’t have to pull a last-minute escape.”

\----------------

Keith’s foot tapped restlessly on the floor. Sun and moon, he hated prison cells. This one was much nicer than his last prison cell, but still. He had no room to do anything. He just had to sit and wait for Allura to do some fancy talking and get him out of here. Stars, was he glad he’d listened to his instinct and left the other paladins at the Castle. 

“Hello.” 

Keith looked up at the familiar British voice. “Hey. What’re you doing here, Lotor?” 

“Visiting rights are, apparently, allowed. Allura’s busy discussing diplomacy and also trying to rearrange the entire legal system, and they’re trying to figure out if they should shoot Alteans on sight. On the upside, they’ve mostly stopped running around and screaming when they see me.” 

“I hope she’ll be okay.” 

Lotor shrugged. “She’s Allura. What could go wrong?” 

\------------------

“I found it!”

Some little native came rushing in, carrying a glowing orb that he proudly placed in front of the committee. Allura blinked.

“What is that?”

“The seeing orb,” the head committee member announced proudly. “We used it to see if an Altean was abusing nature; if so, then they were to be shot. Otherwise, they are either accepted into our society as a nature lover or banished because they don’t care. Now it can be used once again. Put your hand on the orb, please.”

Allura tentatively put her hand on the glowing orb and watched as the room lit up with imaged of her life. The Castle. Dancing. Being swung around by her father. The memories brought tears to her eyes, and some of the natives made little “aw” noises. The images flashed through the juneberry festivals, and then to the horrifying images of war.

The little fur creatures gasped in horror at the things she’d seen, at all the horrifying injuries, all of Haggar’s experiments, all of the pain inflicted on the other slaves, _especially_ Keith, and then the paladins all showed up. Their expressions relaxed as the paladins fixed things, as they freed planets. The images slowed and stopped, the orb fading to its original slight glow.

“Well. Time to vote. All in favor of killing the Altean?”

No one raised their hands.

“All in favor of banishing the Altean?”

A few hands went up, but not enough.

“All in favor of accepting her as one of our own?”

The majority of hands shot up, and the head of the committee nodded, turning back to Allura. “You are our sister now! For though you live in a home of metal and technology, you have proven to be at peace with nature and a friend to the universe. Oh,” he added, “and the green paladin is also excused from any shooting. Quite wonderful, she is. Very in-tune with the universe, even if she can’t see it. Wonderful. Not often we excuse a human from all shooting.”

“So, Keith…”

“Oh, no. He must be shot. His human blood outweighs the different kinds of alien blood in him. Execution is tomorrow.”

“What?! Do you _seriously_ expect me to allow this?!”

“Do you have a choice? We outnumber you. I’m sorry, I really am, but there is extreme evidence that points to humans abusing nature. As the protectors of nature, we must defend it at all costs. Don’t worry. His body will fertilize the ground and create new life. It is the circle that nature created.”

Allura quietly pushed a button. “Hold on. Let’s negotiate this. We can find a compromise.”

\----------------

Lotor looked up as a little bleeping emanated from his pocket. “Oh. Well. Time to get you out of here. They’ve decided on killing you. Allura will stall for time, and we’ll get you back to the pod and then to the ship.” 

“How are you going to get me out?” 

Lotor pulled a small explosive out of his pocket. “Stand back.” 

\--------------

The sound of an explosion echoed through the hallways, and the leader of the committee jumped to his feet. “The human is escaping! We must immediately get him! Execution is no longer an option; he must be stopped!” 

“Uh, wait,” Allura cried, “We should vote! On who should be the one to get the, uh, glorious honor of bringing down an abuser of nature!” 

The leader nodded. “Yes, yes, you are right, sister. You speak as the true voice of democracy. We shall first vote!” 

\--------------

Keith and Lotor ran through the hallways, Keith shaking away unpleasant memories of failed escape attempts. It was going to be fine. Haggar wasn’t here. She couldn’t stop him. He just hoped Allura hadn’t run out of things to distract the committee with. 

\------------

“Uh, what about weapons?! Why don’t we vote on what weapons the lucky chosen should wield to save nature itself?!” 

 “Sister, I admire your spirit, but the atlatl is the only weapon we have. We move out!” all of the little creatures cheered.

Allura bit her lip, pressing her button again.

 _Please,_ she thought, _please be far away._ She was running out of options, and her brain desperately latched on to one last scheme.

“Uh, he’s dangerous! We should proceed with caution! In fact, why don’t we vote on how much caution?!”

They all nodded and started to vote. She’d bought them a few more minutes. She could only hope it would be enough.

\-------------

An arrow whistled through the air, barely missing Keith. Looked like they were out of stalling time. Lotor said some very unflattering words in Galran that Keith hoped he hadn’t taught Pidge. 

 “What do we do now?!”

“Run! Very fast!”

“What if-”

Another arrow cut off Keith’s words, grazing his arm and drawing blood.

Lotor threw a rock at the sniper and knocked him out of the tree. They passed a landslide and a flooding river and Lotor suddenly understood what was happening.

“Keith! We need to get in the river!”

“What?! We’ll be washed too far away from the pod! Not to mention they could just shoot us like a couple of fish!”

“These are stray archers! We need to stay out of any-”

Keith charged ahead, running straight into a clearing.

“-clearings,” Lotor finished. “Keith! Wait!”

Lotor heard the hissing noise of a dozen atlatls releasing their darts and a wet thwacking noise as a dozen darts ripped into flesh. Lotor shouted in alarm, tearing frantically towards the clearing, where Keith was standing, staring at the dozen quills buried in his flesh. He blinked and then keeled over, red staining his shirt- why had Allura insisted they not wear their armor?!

Lotor’s vision turned red, and before he knew it, a dozen archers were lying unconscious on the ground, most with broken arms. He scooped up his nephew, who was weakly attempting to pull the darts out, his gaze unfocused. Lotor hissed in as he took in the damage. Half of the arrows had more-or-less-harmlessly found their mark in an arm or leg. The other half… three arrows were sticking out of Keith’s back, two were lodged in his stomach and the last arrow- it was poking right in his ribs. It had gone right through his ribcage, piercing the lung.

“Don’t die,” Lotor whispered frantically as he made his way towards the pod.

Keith’s only response was a guttural moan and to cough up some blood. Lotor skidded to a halt in front of the pod as a Galra soldier stepped out in front of the pod.

“Ex-Prince Lotor. There are more of us than you. Surrender.”

Lotor’s mind immediately started calculating and formulating escape plans. Three immediately came to mind. Then Keith gave a moan in his arms, and Lotor’s plans fell flat. Even if they escaped, Keith wouldn’t make it.

“Surrender.”

“Commander. You and I both know that I could escape if I so pleased. In fact, I already have several plans to escape. You can’t stop me.”

“Ah. Then the million gac question, Lotor. Why haven’t you?”

Lotor glanced down at Keith. He only had one option.

“My friend. He’s hurt. He won’t make it. So. I will surrender under one condition; you _have_ to keep him from dying. You _must_ give him medical attention. Swear it, and I’ll go peacefully with you. I won’t try to escape. I’ll submit to my father. Just, please. Save him.”

The commander glanced down at Lotor and the tiny injured half-breed he was cradling in his arms. “I give my word.”

\---------------

Allura skidded to a halt as her eyes took in the sight she’d never hoped to see, but had prepared for the instant Lotor stepped on board; Keith was being carried into a Galra ship, and Lotor was peacefully walking with the Galra.

“TRAITOR,” she screamed, throwing a rock that hit Lotor in the head. “FILTHY TRAITOR! I _NEVER_ SHOULD’VE TRUSTED YOU!”

Lotor opened his mouth to speak, but the ship’s door closed, and it blasted off. _Good_ , Allura thought angrily as she wiped away a tear, _he only would’ve lied anyway_.

\---------

Lotor rubbed his head, wincing. The rock hadn’t even hurt as much as her words. A single tear dripped down his face. He might’ve done it to save Keith, but he’d gone past the point of no return. They’d never trust him again. He listlessly let the other Galra lock him up in a cell where he curled against the wall, his head buried in his arms. Hunk. Lance. Pidge. Allura. None of them would ever trust him again. He hadn’t realized how much he’d valued their friendship until he came to the startling realization that he’d never have it again. He choked back a sob. What had he done?! 

\-------------

“Allura? What’s wrong? Where’s Keith? And Lotor?” 

Allura shook her head, tears dripping from her eyes. “We made a mistake,” she whispered, “Keith is gone. Lotor handed him over to the Galra. I couldn’t do anything.” He shoulders shook, and Lance wrapped his arms around her, letting her sob into him. 

“He’s gone,” she whispered, “They took him. And I was helpless to stop them.” 

“Shhh. Hey, Princess, it’ll be alright. Don’t worry. It’ll be okay. Keith’s- Keith’s tough. He’ll hang on until we can get him.” 

“But- But we don’t even have a black paladin anymore, and how are we going to rescue him without Voltron?!” 

“Well,” a well-missed voice said from the doorway, “I guess I could fly it.” Shiro smiled from the door, although, something about him seemed… off. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Takes deep breath* This is it, guys. The beginning of the end. This is how it starts.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything goes to hell.

Keith felt something poke him, and he slowly opened his eyes. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was the shooting… and Lotor… and the other Galra surrounding them… No! Lotor had- Lotor had- Keith moaned in despair. His mother would’ve rather _killed_ Lotor than let him get captured by Zarkon. And now what? Now, Lotor was in Zarkon’s direct custody. All because of Keith. 

Keith tried to sit up, but realized that there were restraints wrapped around his arms, legs and chest. A flood of panic burst through him. No. no, no, no, no, no, no! Was he in Haggar’s lab? If Lotor had been the only thing keeping Haggar’s hands off of him… who was protecting him now?

Keith yanked desperately on the cuffs, trying to pull away from the operating table- _dissecting table-_ that the witch had tied him to. Voices echoed somewhere out of sight.

“He’s waking up-”

“He’s trying to get up-”

“He’ll reopen his wounds-”

“Hey! Let me out! Let me out! Don’t you- you get near me and I will kill you!”

“Calm down, there.”

Keith struggled hard, ignoring the pain in his ribs, back and limbs. “Get away from me!”

“Easy, son. Stop moving, you’ll rip out your stitches.”

“Don’t touch me,” Keith snarled.

“Hush, now. We’re not trying to hurt you. Hold on.”

One of the people edged a little closer towards him and gently reached for his head. Keith bit his fingers, spitting out the doctor’s blood. The doctor moved away, yelping and examining his hand.

“I said,” Keith snarled, “don’t _touch me_!”

“Youngling, you’ve been hurt, please, stop. We’re trying to help.”

“You- tell- Haggar- that she- can go- to-”

“We’re not with Haggar! Look!”

One of the doctors carefully undid Keith’s arm restraints, and Keith immediately flailed out and punched him, ripping off the chest restraint and giving the leg-cuffs the same treatment. He swung his feet over the edge of the table, growling at any of the doctors who got too close.

“Get away!” Keith stumbled off of the table, coughing and feeling the coppery taste of blood in his mouth.

“What- what did you do to me?!”

“Please, you suffered internal damage- we can correct it, just lay back down, please-”

“I’m not falling for your tricks!” Keith staggered away from the doctors, leaning against the wall, horrified by the blood he left behind.

“You’ve ripped open your stitches, please, stop!” One of the doctors made a move to guide him back to the table, and Keith swung his fist into the man’s face, yelping at the pain from his shoulder and arm.

His vision was swimming now, and he lurched forward, one of the doctors catching him.

“Don’t die! You’re going to be fine!” He was gently laid onto the table and secured. “We have to fix your lung, we’re going to have to do surgery- we _promise_ that we’re not trying to harm you; we’re medical doctors.”

Keith nodded listlessly, and the doctor broke off, talking to the other doctors in a low tone. “You’re sure? Alright. Child, I’m sorry, but we can’t put you under; you won’t wake up. Do you understand? We’re going to have to perform surgery without anesthetic. I won’t lie, it’s going to hurt.”

It did. They’d warned him, they gave him a rag to bite down on, but when they started… Keith screamed into the rag, trying not to move, his screams eventually fading to whimpers as the doctor methodically fixed whatever was wrong with his lung. He fought against the blackness, fighting to stay alive.   
            “Shiro,” he moaned through the rag, “Allura, Lotor, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Coran, _please_! P-please… please…” He couldn’t say anything else, just that one word, over and over again, the rest of the cry playing through his mind.

_Help me_

_Save me_

_Bring me back_

_Hurry. Please._

\---------------

“Shiro?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“When- when are we going to rescue Keith? He’s been gone for almost a week now, and- I’m worried.”

“Allura, come with me.”

Shiro led her down to the pod bay. “Do you know what’s going on, here?”

“N-no. Shiro, what’s wrong?”

“The black lion is refusing to let me in again. Do you know why?”

“No, I don’t understand.”

“Do you know why I brought you here? All the way down here?”

“No.”

“Haggar believes that you are not the worst threat. She thinks the green paladin is the worst threat to her. She believes that she can easily defeat you. I believe otherwise. I believe that _you_ are the worst threat to the Empire. A budding druid is the worst threat.”

“…Thank you?” Allura edged away from Shiro. This was bothering her, but she didn’t know how to respond.

“Keith was… a good leader. And that was a problem.”

“A… problem?”

“Good leaders only bring division to the Empire.”

“Shiro…” Allura backed farther away. “Shiro, I don’t like this. I don’t like where this is going. Get to your point.”

Shiro sneered. “My _point_ , _Princess_ , is that _you_ are a liability to the Empire. This whole ship, Voltron, Ankarette, all of it is a liability to the Empire, but you have to go first. A druid. The biggest liability.”

Allura opened her mouth to scream, but Shiro was faster. With a squeeze of his hand on Allura’s neck, she dropped like a stone. He made no move to catch her. After all, he had some paladins to catch.

\-----------------

Shiro pounded on the door, on his only way out.

“Hey! Let me out, let me out! Haggar! I _know_ you did this!”

He’d been… he’d been injured. He’d been in the cryosleep, and then… Haggar had been there, in his mind. The last time she’d tried this, he’d locked himself away, up in a dark, dusty shelf to protect himself. Keith had found him there and pulled him out. But this time… this time the witch had taken everything that made him Shiro, and locked it away where he couldn’t burst free. But he could see _everything_. Shiro slumped against the wall, crying softly as he watched himself attack Allura. No. This wasn’t supposed to go like this! He wasn’t supposed to be the bad guy!

\----------------

Pidge hazed out of focus and her vision shimmered. She was in a forest. She was walking through the trees, sunlight drifting through. Keith was there, smiling and laughing, along with an older man who could only be Keith’s father. It was beautiful. She’d never seen Keith’s face so… clear, and pain-free. 

“Pidge!”

Pidge snapped out of her vision. She had no idea what was going on. Occasionally… occasionally when she wasn’t paying attention, that had been happening. She’d slip out of reality into… well, sometimes they came true. Sometimes what she saw was the future. Only little things, in the near future, not bigger things, just little scenes. Foresight. But that one, the one with Keith and his family… it had become prevalent. Pidge wondered if this had to do with… Tlatoani had told her that she was clever to contact her, all of those months ago, but what if she wasn’t? Tlatoani had said something about the threads, and Pidge was beginning to suspect… never mind.

“Pidge!”

“Yes, sorry, dazed off, what’s wrong, Shiro?!”

“It’s Allura; she’s stuck in a pod and I have no idea how to deactivate it!”

“Oh. Okay, hold on, I’m coming.”

Pidge shook off all of her thoughts and got up, stretching. She was only inches from the door, when a sudden warning flashed before her eyes; Shiro, in a Galra uniform, sneering down at her. She stopped.

“Shiro? Which pod is she stuck in?”

“26.”

Huh. Shiro’s age, if you didn’t count that he was a leap year baby. There was only one problem with that.

There were only twenty-five pods.

Pidge got her bayard out. “Guys, I think Shiro might be hostile, if I don’t contact you in five- guys? Guys?!”

There was a chuckle from the com. “Oh, Pidgeon. Did you think that you were the _first_ person I contacted?”

The door opened, revealing Shiro, his eyes glowing golden, the other paladins and Coran tied up behind him, gagged. Pidge backed up, pointing her bayard at Shiro. “Stay away.”

Shiro- no, not Shiro, that _witch_ in Shiro’s body- took two steps towards her, chuckling. “Pidge, Pidge, Pidge. Small, fierce Pidge. Impossible, hacker Pidge.”

“I _said_ stay _away_!”

“Pidge, we both know that you won’t use that. I’m your new family. You wouldn’t taser your own family, would you?”

Pidge took a step back. “Oh, yes, I would! I did it once!”

“And it chewed on your very being. Ah, tiny, gifted Pidge. You can see more than others. You have a way with the universe. You’ll be very… useful, yesssss.” Shiro approached, laughing Haggar’s laugh.

“Pidge!”

Pidge looked up as a pair of arms dangled down from the vent above her. Pidge grabbed onto the hands and let Ankarette pull her up into the vents, slamming the grate back on while Shiro ran and leaped, his fingers grabbing onto the grate.

“Let’s go!”

Pidge and Ankarette scooted down the vents, Shiro’s angry howling behind them.

“We have to get the others!”

Ankarette shook her head. “No time. Shiro will be on a pod and gone by the time we get there and probably alerting the Galra to where the Castle is. I’ve set the Castle on a timer; the instant Shiro’s pod leaves, we’re wormholing to get the rest of Voltron safe, and you and I are getting as far away in the green lion as possible.”

“We can’t just leave them!”

“Pidge, the instant we try to rescue them, Shiro will stop us. We’ll have to try to rescue them once they’re on Galra high command. Then we can get Keith while we’re at it and make a run for it.”

“But…”

“Trust me, Pidge. This is the best option. If there were another option, I’d take it. But if you want to get everybody out of this alive, you’re going to have to trust me.”

\----------------

Lance yelped as the Galra soldier tossed him into a prison cell. The guard slammed the door shut. 

 “Yeah, that’s right,” Lance called, “You _better_ run!”

“Lance?”

Lance jumped at the voice, turning to face a ghost. “Natasha?!”

\---------------

Hunk rubbed his head wincing, as the Galra locked the door behind him. What had… Shiro’s eyes had been… 

A pair of glowing eyes peered out in the darkness, and Hunk yelped, scooting away.

“Who are you?! What do you want?!”

“Hunk?”

Hunk squinted into the darkness as a gray form in a Galra prison uniform edged into the light. “Shay?!”

\----------------

Against the will of the doctors, two Galra guards had come for Keith and they threw him into a cell, laughing when he yelped in pain. Oh, yeah. They were going to die once he got out.

“Keith?”

Keith whirled around, wincing. “Who’s there?!”

“Oh! It _is_ you!”

Something wrapped itself around him, and he tensed up before he recognized the face. “Tlatoani? What’re _you_ doing here?”

“Oh,” she sobbed, “I- the Galra came, and Haggar was there and she shot my mother with something- and she disappeared, and then- I don’t know, the universe is totally out of whack- and- and- and I can’t feel the threads anymore! When my mother got shot, I lost connection, and- wait. What are _you_ doing here?!”

“Uh- long story. Diplomacy gone wrong. What about the others? Are they safe?”

“Before- Before Haggar… uh, shot her, Tyesha moved the children. They’re safe. Jalen and Shay tried to stop the Galra, but- I lost them in the fighting, and- I don’t know _where_ they are.”

Someone swept by the cell, a familiar white shock of hair surprising Keith. He moved up to the window.

“Shiro! Shiro, I’m over here! Tlatoani’s here too, let’s go!”

Shiro stopped in front of him, and Keith took a step back. Shiro’s eyes were glowing gold.

“…Shiro?”

Shiro smiled harshly. “I’m sorry, Shiro’s not here right now. Would you like me to take a message?”

“S-Shiro?”

Shiro smacked Keith across the face with his metal arm, sending him back into the cell. “Stupid child! I’m not Shiro anymore! The other paladins found that out the hard way! The green paladin and the traitor half-Galra are gone, but it won’t be long before we find them.”

“No…”

“Face it, _paladin_. Shiro is _gone_. And he’s not coming back. Besides; even if he was coming back, why would he want you? The sooner you accept that your friend is gone, the happier you’ll be.” Not-Shiro’s face contorted into a very un-Shiro-like sneer. “Of course, you won’t live long anyway.” He swept down the hallway.

Keith’s eyes filled with tears that had nothing to do with the slap, and Tlatoani crawled over to him, shaking. He put one arm around her comfortingly.

“Keith? What’re we going to do now?”

“We’re going to wait. We’re going to hold out. Pidge and my mother are out there, and if I know them, they’re already on their way. Just wait. We’re going to be okay.”


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything goes wrong. Again.

Keith felt something poke him, and he slowly opened his eyes. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was the shooting… and Lotor… and the other Galra surrounding them… No! Lotor had- Lotor had- Keith moaned in despair. His mother would’ve rather _killed_ Lotor than let him get captured by Zarkon. And now what? Now, Lotor was in Zarkon’s direct custody. All because of Keith. 

Keith tried to sit up, but realized that there were restraints wrapped around his arms, legs and chest. A flood of panic burst through him. No. no, no, no, no, no, no! Was he in Haggar’s lab? If Lotor had been the only thing keeping Haggar’s hands off of him… who was protecting him now?

Keith yanked desperately on the cuffs, trying to pull away from the operating table- _dissecting table-_ that the witch had tied him to. Voices echoed somewhere out of sight.

“He’s waking up-”

“He’s trying to get up-”

“He’ll reopen his wounds-”

“Hey! Let me out! Let me out! Don’t you- you get near me and I will kill you!”

“Calm down, there.”

Keith struggled hard, ignoring the pain in his ribs, back and limbs. “Get away from me!”

“Easy, son. Stop moving, you’ll rip out your stitches.”

“Don’t touch me,” Keith snarled.

“Hush, now. We’re not trying to hurt you. Hold on.”

One of the people edged a little closer towards him and gently reached for his head. Keith bit his fingers, spitting out the doctor’s blood. The doctor moved away, yelping and examining his hand.

“I said,” Keith snarled, “don’t _touch me_!”

“Youngling, you’ve been hurt, please, stop. We’re trying to help.”

“You- tell- Haggar- that she- can go- to-”

“We’re not with Haggar! Look!”

One of the doctors carefully undid Keith’s arm restraints, and Keith immediately flailed out and punched him, ripping off the chest restraint and giving the leg-cuffs the same treatment. He swung his feet over the edge of the table, growling at any of the doctors who got too close.

“Get away!” Keith stumbled off of the table, coughing and feeling the coppery taste of blood in his mouth.

“What- what did you do to me?!”

“Please, you suffered internal damage- we can correct it, just lay back down, please-”

“I’m not falling for your tricks!” Keith staggered away from the doctors, leaning against the wall, horrified by the blood he left behind.

“You’ve ripped open your stitches, please, stop!” One of the doctors made a move to guide him back to the table, and Keith swung his fist into the man’s face, yelping at the pain from his shoulder and arm.

His vision was swimming now, and he lurched forward, one of the doctors catching him.

“Don’t die! You’re going to be fine!” He was gently laid onto the table and secured. “We have to fix your lung, we’re going to have to do surgery- we _promise_ that we’re not trying to harm you; we’re medical doctors.”

Keith nodded listlessly, and the doctor broke off, talking to the other doctors in a low tone. “You’re sure? Alright. Child, I’m sorry, but we can’t put you under; you won’t wake up. Do you understand? We’re going to have to perform surgery without anesthetic. I won’t lie, it’s going to hurt.”

It did. They’d warned him, they gave him a rag to bite down on, but when they started… Keith screamed into the rag, trying not to move, his screams eventually fading to whimpers as the doctor methodically fixed whatever was wrong with his lung. He fought against the blackness, fighting to stay alive.   
            “Shiro,” he moaned through the rag, “Allura, Lotor, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Coran, _please_! P-please… please…” He couldn’t say anything else, just that one word, over and over again, the rest of the cry playing through his mind.

_Help me_

_Save me_

_Bring me back_

_Hurry. Please._

\---------------

“Shiro?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“When- when are we going to rescue Keith? He’s been gone for almost a week now, and- I’m worried.”

“Allura, come with me.”

Shiro led her down to the pod bay. “Do you know what’s going on, here?”

“N-no. Shiro, what’s wrong?”

“The black lion is refusing to let me in again. Do you know why?”

“No, I don’t understand.”

“Do you know why I brought you here? All the way down here?”

“No.”

“Haggar believes that you are not the worst threat. She thinks the green paladin is the worst threat to her. She believes that she can easily defeat you. I believe otherwise. I believe that _you_ are the worst threat to the Empire. A budding druid is the worst threat.”

“…Thank you?” Allura edged away from Shiro. This was bothering her, but she didn’t know how to respond.

“Keith was… a good leader. And that was a problem.”

“A… problem?”

“Good leaders only bring division to the Empire.”

“Shiro…” Allura backed farther away. “Shiro, I don’t like this. I don’t like where this is going. Get to your point.”

Shiro sneered. “My _point_ , _Princess_ , is that _you_ are a liability to the Empire. This whole ship, Voltron, Ankarette, all of it is a liability to the Empire, but you have to go first. A druid. The biggest liability.”

Allura opened her mouth to scream, but Shiro was faster. With a squeeze of his hand on Allura’s neck, she dropped like a stone. He made no move to catch her. After all, he had some paladins to catch.

\-----------------

Shiro pounded on the door, on his only way out.

“Hey! Let me out, let me out! Haggar! I _know_ you did this!”

He’d been… he’d been injured. He’d been in the cryosleep, and then… Haggar had been there, in his mind. The last time she’d tried this, he’d locked himself away, up in a dark, dusty shelf to protect himself. Keith had found him there and pulled him out. But this time… this time the witch had taken everything that made him Shiro, and locked it away where he couldn’t burst free. But he could see _everything_. Shiro slumped against the wall, crying softly as he watched himself attack Allura. No. This wasn’t supposed to go like this! He wasn’t supposed to be the bad guy!

\----------------

Pidge hazed out of focus and her vision shimmered. She was in a forest. She was walking through the trees, sunlight drifting through. Keith was there, smiling and laughing, along with an older man who could only be Keith’s father. It was beautiful. She’d never seen Keith’s face so… clear, and pain-free. 

“Pidge!”

Pidge snapped out of her vision. She had no idea what was going on. Occasionally… occasionally when she wasn’t paying attention, that had been happening. She’d slip out of reality into… well, sometimes they came true. Sometimes what she saw was the future. Only little things, in the near future, not bigger things, just little scenes. Foresight. But that one, the one with Keith and his family… it had become prevalent. Pidge wondered if this had to do with… Tlatoani had told her that she was clever to contact her, all of those months ago, but what if she wasn’t? Tlatoani had said something about the threads, and Pidge was beginning to suspect… never mind.

“Pidge!”

“Yes, sorry, dazed off, what’s wrong, Shiro?!”

“It’s Allura; she’s stuck in a pod and I have no idea how to deactivate it!”

“Oh. Okay, hold on, I’m coming.”

Pidge shook off all of her thoughts and got up, stretching. She was only inches from the door, when a sudden warning flashed before her eyes; Shiro, in a Galra uniform, sneering down at her. She stopped.

“Shiro? Which pod is she stuck in?”

“26.”

Huh. Shiro’s age, if you didn’t count that he was a leap year baby. There was only one problem with that.

There were only twenty-five pods.

Pidge got her bayard out. “Guys, I think Shiro might be hostile, if I don’t contact you in five- guys? Guys?!”

There was a chuckle from the com. “Oh, Pidgeon. Did you think that you were the _first_ person I contacted?”

The door opened, revealing Shiro, his eyes glowing golden, the other paladins and Coran tied up behind him, gagged. Pidge backed up, pointing her bayard at Shiro. “Stay away.”

Shiro- no, not Shiro, that _witch_ in Shiro’s body- took two steps towards her, chuckling. “Pidge, Pidge, Pidge. Small, fierce Pidge. Impossible, hacker Pidge.”

“I _said_ stay _away_!”

“Pidge, we both know that you won’t use that. I’m your new family. You wouldn’t taser your own family, would you?”

Pidge took a step back. “Oh, yes, I would! I did it once!”

“And it chewed on your very being. Ah, tiny, gifted Pidge. You can see more than others. You have a way with the universe. You’ll be very… useful, yesssss.” Shiro approached, laughing Haggar’s laugh.

“Pidge!”

Pidge looked up as a pair of arms dangled down from the vent above her. Pidge grabbed onto the hands and let Ankarette pull her up into the vents, slamming the grate back on while Shiro ran and leaped, his fingers grabbing onto the grate.

“Let’s go!”

Pidge and Ankarette scooted down the vents, Shiro’s angry howling behind them.

“We have to get the others!”

Ankarette shook her head. “No time. Shiro will be on a pod and gone by the time we get there and probably alerting the Galra to where the Castle is. I’ve set the Castle on a timer; the instant Shiro’s pod leaves, we’re wormholing to get the rest of Voltron safe, and you and I are getting as far away in the green lion as possible.”

“We can’t just leave them!”

“Pidge, the instant we try to rescue them, Shiro will stop us. We’ll have to try to rescue them once they’re on Galra high command. Then we can get Keith while we’re at it and make a run for it.”

“But…”

“Trust me, Pidge. This is the best option. If there were another option, I’d take it. But if you want to get everybody out of this alive, you’re going to have to trust me.”

\----------------

Lance yelped as the Galra soldier tossed him into a prison cell. The guard slammed the door shut. 

 “Yeah, that’s right,” Lance called, “You _better_ run!”

“Lance?”

Lance jumped at the voice, turning to face a ghost. “Natasha?!”

\---------------

Hunk rubbed his head wincing, as the Galra locked the door behind him. What had… Shiro’s eyes had been… 

A pair of glowing eyes peered out in the darkness, and Hunk yelped, scooting away.

“Who are you?! What do you want?!”

“Hunk?”

Hunk squinted into the darkness as a gray form in a Galra prison uniform edged into the light. “Shay?!”

\----------------

Against the will of the doctors, two Galra guards had come for Keith and they threw him into a cell, laughing when he yelped in pain. Oh, yeah. They were going to die once he got out.

“Keith?”

Keith whirled around, wincing. “Who’s there?!”

“Oh! It _is_ you!”

Something wrapped itself around him, and he tensed up before he recognized the face. “Tlatoani? What’re _you_ doing here?”

“Oh,” she sobbed, “I- the Galra came, and Haggar was there and she shot my mother with something- and she disappeared, and then- I don’t know, the universe is totally out of whack- and- and- and I can’t feel the threads anymore! When my mother got shot, I lost connection, and- wait. What are _you_ doing here?!”

“Uh- long story. Diplomacy gone wrong. What about the others? Are they safe?”

“Before- Before Haggar… uh, shot her, Tyesha moved the children. They’re safe. Jalen and Shay tried to stop the Galra, but- I lost them in the fighting, and- I don’t know _where_ they are.”

Someone swept by the cell, a familiar white shock of hair surprising Keith. He moved up to the window.

“Shiro! Shiro, I’m over here! Tlatoani’s here too, let’s go!”

Shiro stopped in front of him, and Keith took a step back. Shiro’s eyes were glowing gold.

“…Shiro?”

Shiro smiled harshly. “I’m sorry, Shiro’s not here right now. Would you like me to take a message?”

“S-Shiro?”

Shiro smacked Keith across the face with his metal arm, sending him back into the cell. “Stupid child! I’m not Shiro anymore! The other paladins found that out the hard way! The green paladin and the traitor half-Galra are gone, but it won’t be long before we find them.”

“No…”

“Face it, _paladin_. Shiro is _gone_. And he’s not coming back. Besides; even if he was coming back, why would he want you? The sooner you accept that your friend is gone, the happier you’ll be.” Not-Shiro’s face contorted into a very un-Shiro-like sneer. “Of course, you won’t live long anyway.” He swept down the hallway.

Keith’s eyes filled with tears that had nothing to do with the slap, and Tlatoani crawled over to him, shaking. He put one arm around her comfortingly.

“Keith? What’re we going to do now?”

“We’re going to wait. We’re going to hold out. Pidge and my mother are out there, and if I know them, they’re already on their way. Just wait. We’re going to be okay.”


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escape time. I use the biggest deus in machina since the original deus in machina

“Up, paladin. Emperor Zarkon has ordered your presence.”

Keith glared up at the Galra soldier in the doorway. “No. Go away.”

“Emperor Zarkon-”

Keith rammed his shoulder into the gut of the Galra, knocking him backwards, the door closing behind him. Keith held the door shut as the guard tried to get in.

“Hey! Emperor Zarkon-”

“Yeah, here’s the thing, I have absolutely no use for Emperor Zarkon, have a nice day.”

Tlatoani giggled as the guard pounded harder.

“Hey! Let me in!”

“What’re you going to do,” Keith shot back, “punish me for _not_ escaping?”

“What seems to be the problem?”

“Vrepit sa, high priestess! It appears- ah- it appears that the black paladin has… locked himself in the cell.”

“Black paladin.” Keith shuddered as Haggar’s voice washed over him, creeping into his brain like a nest of vipers. “This is childish. Open this door, or I’ll bring you out by force.”

“Go to hell,” Keith snarled, bracing himself for her control. He could at _least_ try to fight it.

“Champion?”

Keith’s blood chilled. That was her name for-

The door was wrenched open, Keith’s iron grip no match for the strength of not-Shiro’s metal arm. His controlled friend grabbed him by the arm, dragging him into the hallway. Keith dug his heels into the ground. “Let me g- ah- ah- Stop!”

Not-Shiro had activated his arm, the hot metal burning into Keith’s skin. The arm deactivated, Shiro glaring at Keith balefully, the imprint of a hand burned onto his arm.

“Would you like me to do it to your _face_ next time? It would be a shame if you lost your eyes. Or maybe I’ll just cut your disrespectful tongue out of your head.”

“Keith,” Tlatoani whispered, “please, now isn’t the time to be a martyr. Just go.”

Keith allowed himself to be tugged down the hallway, his brain moving slowly, revolving on what had just happened. Shiro had _burned_ him. Not because Haggar had told him to; simply because his brain had coldly and clearly calculated that the best way to get Keith moving was to imprint his hand onto his flesh. Shiro had hurt him before, sure, back in the arena. But this was different; that had been Shiro not knowing who he was and just trying to survive. This was Shiro’s mind under an influence that allowed him to use all of his cleverness and tactics but ruthlessly and for the wrong side.

Not-Shiro dragged him into a room where the other paladins were locked to chairs, Zarkon sitting behind a desk with a guard standing behind him. Not-Shiro threw him into a chair, which automatically cuffed him to the arms and legs.

“I see that the… faux black paladin has seen fit to grace us with his presence,” Zarkon drawled, leaning forward in his chair, “So, then. I want to know something, and _you’re_ going to tell me. Where is the Castle? Where is Voltron, where is the green paladin, and where is my treacherous little spliced offspring?”

Keith smirked. “I am pleased to tell you that I have absolutely no idea.”

Zarkon frowned. “Do not play games, paladin. You _will_ tell me where the Castle is.”

“I’m not playing a game. I don’t know.”

“I think you have found my torture methods to be… effective… in the past, have you not?”

“Yeah, and I think _you_ found that when I said I didn’t know where someone was, _I didn’t know where that person was_. Not that it stopped you from snapping my spine.”

The other paladins all flinched, but Keith just stared Zarkon directly in the eye insolently. Zarkon frowned deeply.

“I can see that nothing I can do to you will make you talk.”

“Not a chance.”

“But what about your fellow paladins?”

“What about them?”

Zarkon nodded to not-Shiro, and he approached Hunk, his arm starting to glow. Keith’s vision sharpened, and he could tell that his eyes had started their telltale glowing.

“NO! Don’t you- don’t you dare!” He yanked on his restraints, pulling them right off of the chair. He tackled not-Shiro away from Hunk, tugging on his waist. Not-Shiro just ripped him off and threw him into a wall, continuing his march on the yellow paladin.

Hunk stared apprehensively at the glowing arm of the man he had called friend. He wouldn’t shout, he wouldn’t yelp, he wouldn’t- He closed his eyes, hoping he could keep silent.

“Wait,” Keith said in a tired voice. Hunk opened his eyes to see Shiro’s arm hovering a few inches from his face. “I’ll tell you where they are,” Keith continued in that tired, sad voice, “Just don’t hurt him.” Hunk winced at how defeated Keith sounded. Shiro’s arm deactivated, and Zarkon smiled.

“Where are they?”

“Alther system. Septimus quadrant. Third moon of Marcia. We made a plan in case Lotor betrayed us.”

Zarkon leaned back, still smiling. “There. Isn’t everything easier when you cooperate?”

Keith didn’t answer. Shiro yanked him up and threw him back into the chair. “Answer the emperor,” he hissed.

“Yes,” Keith replied dully, and Hunk’s heart just about broke at how dead Keith sounded. Keith, who was the stubborn fighter, the one who always held out. If he was giving up, where did that leave the rest of them?

“My subjects,” Zarkon began, “have decided that a preferred form of execution at least for you is death by hanging. Personally, I think a few of them went native while on earth and watched too many… what are they called, old westerns? Yes. No accounting for taste, I suppose, but I _do_ prefer to keep my subjects in a modicum of happiness, or at least a state of non-rebellion. In their _infinite_ wisdom, however, they only saw fit to make three nooses. As I am generous, I’ll let the one of you live. So, black paladin. Who’ll it be?”

Keith glared at Zarkon, some of his old fierceness back in his eyes. “Three nooses? I’m thinking you, Haggar and, oh, pick a druid, I don’t mind which.

Not-Shiro backhanded him across the face, _hard_ , a trickle of blood now emitting from the corner of Keith’s mouth.

Zarkon’s frown deepened. “Amusing. But this is not a game, _paladin_. I _am_ going to hang three of you, and I thought I’d at least give you the courtesy of choosing which three.”

“Get away, Keith,” Allura automatically spurted, “Get out of here. Survive. You can always find new paladins; it’s not so easy to find a leader. We got lucky.”

Lance nodded firmly. “I mean, we played lion switcheroo already. It won’t be hard.”

“I’m not scared to die,” Hunk added, “Well, maybe a little, but still-”

“Me,” Keith stated, opening his eyes, which had been squeezed shut with concentration, “Me, Lance and Allura. Let Hunk live.”

Zarkon leaned back, something in his expression satisfied. “Hm. Noble self-sacrifice. I never saw the appeal.”

Keith didn’t answer, his eyes fixed hopelessly on the floor, all of the light scraped out of them.

Zarkon waved a hand. “Very well. Take them back to their cells.”

A couple of guards entered the room, taking hold of the paladins. Once they were out in the hallway, Allura turned to Keith. “Why did you choose us?” she murmured, “I mean, I’m glad you did, but why?”

Keith finally looked up from the floor, all trace of the defeated self he’d been gone, his eyes burning with determination offset by the blood still trickling from his mouth. “Hunk’s too heavy. His neck would’ve broken immediately.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “So you chose us because we’d suffer longer?”

“Exactly.”

“Thanks for that.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan.”

“Is this one of those insane plans where we all almost die?”

“You mean those insane plans where we still all walk away alive? Yes.”

\---------------

Pidge stifled a yawn as Zarkon droned on and on about the glory of the Galra Empire, hoping that nobody would look too closely under her hood. She was beginning to suspect that Zarkon wanted to _bore_ her friends to death, not hang them. Ankarette gave her a little signal from her position, and Pidge let out an internal sigh of relief. She carefully slid out the door, heading towards the places she and the half-Galra had planned. Time to make this execution a little more… interesting.

\-------------

“Hey.” Keith gave a little smile to his companions. “If… if we don’t all make it out of here alive, I just wanted you two to know… I’m glad I met you. We’ve gone through a _lot_ together, and… I’m glad we did. I’m glad you guys have been with me every step of the way.”

“Shut your quiznek,” Lance growled.

Keith blinked. “I- sorry, what?!”

“Shut your quiznek.”

“I just gave a touching speech and _that’s_ how you respond?”

“Sappy speeches mean somebody’s going to die. So. Shut. Your. Quiznek.”

“What he _means_ ,” Allura interjected gently, “is we’re glad we met you too.”

“No,” Lance muttered, “I meant shut your quiznek.”

Allura looked at the assembly of slaves, her face troubled. “I just wish Coran and Hunk didn’t have to see this.”

“Hopefully they still won’t, Keith muttered.

Zarkon finished his speech and gave the signal. The guard, who was the same one from the office, came to check their bonds. “I hope you’re ready,” she whispered.

Keith smiled. “Oh, I am.”

Zarkon brought his hand down, and the guard flipped the lever to drop the platform. Keith jumped, grabbing onto the rope around his neck, immediately sawing on it with the knife the guard had tucked into his hand. Immediate pandemonium ensued, especially when, with a _whir_ , Keith threw the knife, cutting through Allura and Lance’s ropes, the guard catching them both. Keith smiled down from the rafters at her. “Hi, Mom. How’s it going?”

She smiled back. “Pretty good, I think.”

\---------------

“Coran! Hunk!” Pidge shouted as she shoved her way through the crowd, “Come on! We’re leaving!”

“Pidge? Pidge, is that you?”

Pidge’s blood chilled and her head whipped around, looking for the speaker. “Jalen?! Jalen, where-”

“Pidge, where are you? Pidge?”

“Jalen! Follow the sound of my voice! Come here!” There! Pidge’s eyes picked out small, blind Jalen, struggling through the crowd. A stray elbow hit him in the face and he went down, curling into a ball to protect his face from the feet flying everywhere. Pidge muscled her way through the crowd, pulling him up. One eye was swelling up and he had a nasty knot on his forehead, but he otherwise looked fine.

“Jalen! Jalen, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, fine, but… how did you know where to find us?”

“We didn’t. We came here for the other paladins.”

Jalen’s mouth dropped open. “Wait. You mean, the people they were going to hang… Oh. Okay. Well. Oh! Shay and Tlatoani! We need to find them!”

A familiar turquoise face seemed to materialize next to them. “Hey. Are we escaping?”

“Natasha?! I thought you _died_!”

“Nah, they shot my hand. Thought they could find out where the other half-breeds are. Joke’s on them; I told nothing.”

“Wait, what’s going on?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Jalen, Natasha. Natasha, Jalen. Natasha, have you seen Coran and Hunk?”

“Yeah, they were right… ah, hold on, I’ll find them. Head for the door! I’ll meet you there!”

Pidge grabbed hold of Jalen’s hand, bobbing and weaving through the crowd. Shay and Tlatoani joined them in their mad rush for the door.

“Hi! What’re _you_ doing here?!”

“Long story,” Tlatoani shouted over the chaos, “Tell you later!”

The crowd parted for Natasha, who was dragging a bewildered Hunk and Coran by their elbows.

“What’s going on,” Hunk shouted.

“I’m rescuing you,” Pidge shouted back.

“Oh! Okay! Please keep rescuing me!”

Pidge’s face lit up as Lance and Allura emerged from the crush, but quickly dropped down into confusion. “Wait! Where’s Keith? And Ankarette?”

“They had to do something! They said to keep going and they’ll catch up!”

Pidge’s face paled. “Endgame is we blow up a bunch of the command center, including the drone bays; the pods will shut down- they won’t be able to get out!”

Lance bit his lip nervously. “Oh. Well, Ankarette knew that, right? She knew the risks, I’m sure she’ll get them out.”

Pidge stared off into the crowd, unable to see either of her friends. “I hope so.”

\-----------------

_Like ten minutes ago_

“We’ve got to get Lotor!”

“What?! Keith, there’s no time, let’s go!”

Keith shook his head vehemently. “NO! I’m not leaving him behind!”

“Keith, he _betrayed_ us,” Allura snapped, “We can’t bring him with us!”

Keith shook his head, jumping off of the platform and running out a side door.

“Keith!” Ankarette shouted, “Keith- ah, quiznek. Here.” She handed a gun to Allura. “Rendezvous with Pidge. I’ll keep Keith from doing anything terribly suicidal. We’ll catch up.” With a graceful leap, she sailed over the heads of the crowd, quickly running through the door after Keith.

Allura looked at the gun in her hands and then at Lance. “Want a gun?”

\------------

Keith pounded down the hallways, desperately trying to remember where he’d vaguely seen the guards taking Lotor. His mother’s footfall echoed behind him.

“Keith! Come back!

“I’m not leaving him behind! He’s _family_!”

“So are Haggar and Zarkon, but we’re not taking _them_ with us! Face it, Keith! Lotor betrayed us!”

“No! He sacrificed himself to save me!”

“Keith, you were injured; are you sure that you remember right?”

Keith stopped and faced his mother. “Back on beta traz, I saw scars on Lotor’s back. What were they?”

“Keith…”

“ _Mom_.”

“They… whenever Lotor saved a half-breed, Haggar demanded retribution. Lotor took it himself.”

Keith whirled around and sprinted further on, entering the lower dungeons. “Lotor?” He frantically opened cell door after cell door until finally, _finally_ one had a lone figure, shackled to the wall. Keith heaved a sigh of relief as he cut his uncle down from the wall, slinging one of his arms over his shoulders.

“Keith-” Keith’s mother turned in and emitted a small shriek. “What _happened_?!”

Her shock was understandable. Lotor was so covered in burns, cuts and bruises that Keith could barely see any purple skin anymore, his breath a shuddering rasp. Ankarette took his other arm, taking some of the weight off of Keith. Keith sighed heavily.

“I _told_ you. Lotor surrendered in order to get me medical care. He didn’t betray us.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to.”

Ankarette gazed at Lotor’s prone form. “No,” she said sadly, “I suppose not.”

They made it halfway to the rendezvous point when they saw a flash of red armor. Ankarette stiffened. “Keith, do you think that you can carry Lotor the rest of the way?”

“Uh- yeah- I guess-”

“Good.” Ankarette carefully extracted herself from under her unconscious brother. “You keep going.”

“Where are _you_ going?”

Ankarette cracked her knuckles. “I think it’s time I had a chat with dear old dad.”

\-----------

“Keith! And- oh. I see.”

Keith sighed and let Lance and Allura take the weight of Lotor off of him. “Is my mom here?”

Lance frowned. “Nooooo… We thought… she was… with you…”

“I’m going to go find her. Get Lotor on the ship and stabilized.” He turned and ran in the opposite direction.

“Keith!” Allura called, “Keith, you’re still- argh! Sometimes I _really_ hate him!”

Lance chuckled, turning to go back onto the ship. “Only _sometimes_?”

\----------------

Keith raced through the hallway, his blood chilling as a scream echoed through the hallway. His mother. He sped into Zarkon’s observatory/quintessence-draining-room to see Zarkon with a sword over his unconscious mother.

“NO!” He leapt off of the druid’s stand, landing on Zarkon’s back and knocking the emperor off-balance.

“Foolish boy! Get off!”

“Leave! Her! _Alone_!” Keith dodged Zarkon’s heavy hands, smacking the emperor with his fists. Then he remembered that he had a knife. He unsheathed it, but Zarkon knocked him off, sending him into another platform, Keith barely activating his jetpack in time. Zarkon flew after him, plowing Keith into the top of another platform and holding him up by his throat.

“You- are- _nothing_ ,” the original black paladin snarled, “You were born nothing and you will _die_ nothing! You are as weak as your predecessor, and the black lion will _never_ be yours, because I am the only one who _truly_ commands it! Everyone will see that once I send you back to the hellpits you spawned from!”

“If- I’m- going- to- hell,” Keith choked, “then- I’m- taking- you- with- me!”

With a downward swipe, Keith sliced through the platform, shorting it out and sending both emperor and paladin tumbling into space, Keith barely activating his face mask in time. Zarkon hurtled towards him, screaming furiously, but stopped when they both saw a light in the distance, that speck of light becoming the shape of the black lion. Zarkon laughed.

“You see?! The black lion comes to me!”

The black lion blasted him to space dust.

Keith floated into the cockpit, breathing heavily. He let out a sigh when he settled down in his seat, closing his eyes and leaning back into the lion.

“Thanks.” He piloted the black lion back into the observatory, gently picking up his mother. When he turned around, Shiro was waiting for him, arm activated.

“Where do you think _you’re_ going?!”

Keith heaved a sigh. “Look, can we just do this some other time? As epic as a battle between the two black paladins sounds, everything hurts right now, and I just want to go home.” _Home_. When had he started thinking of the Castle as home?

He hadn’t. He didn’t want to go back to the Castle; he wanted to go back to his team.

Shiro just growled and charged him.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Keith pulled a stun gun out of his mother’s holster and shot it at Shiro. He collapsed, and Keith sighed again. “I’m sorry. I’ll come back for you, I promise. I won’t leave you here. I _am_ going to save you. But… right now I need to get everybody else somewhere safe. I’m sorry.” He walked up the ramp into the black lion, casting one last regretful glance at his adoptive brother. _Soon. I **will** come back for you. Not today, but soon._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning. Things are about to get heartbreaking. And I can't promise that everyone will get a happy ending. So if you want to leave, right now where everybody is mostly safe, nobody will judge you. But it's going to be bad. So, if you're willing to put up with me for a bit longer... brace yourself.


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get really heartbreaking. Here's to you. To the readers that have been here since the beginning. Thank you for sitting patiently as I rambled on. Thank you for sticking with me. Thank you for your support. This isn't over yet, but it's the beginning of the end. Here's to the readers.

“Natasha!” Natasha was practically tackled by about a dozen small children. Shauna pulled back from the hug to look the older girl in the eye. “Natasha, Lance said that you left to be a hero. Are you done being a hero now?”

Natasha laughed, hugging all of them tightly. “Oh, yes. I hereby promise that I will stop being a hero. From now on I’ll only ever be your guardian.”

Tlatoani was staring at Tyesha’s tree, her eyes sad. Keith quietly approached. “Anything?”

She shook her head, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “Nothing. I just… I wish I knew where she was. If I did, maybe I could turn things back to normal, but I can’t feel _anything_. Just a pervading sense of… wrongness.” Keith took her hands in his, wondering why her skin flushed a deeper shade of purple. Probably grief.

“I- uh- I’m not great- you know- at comfort- or anything- but- uh- I just… I just want to say I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess.”

“I’m not,” Tlatoani blurted, her skin immediately turning an even darker shade of purple as she spoke, “Uh- that you dragged me into this mess. I’m not sorry about meeting you guys. I mean, it’s not that I’m not sorry about- I mean- I’m sorry about- everything- and Shiro and- yeah. I’m going to stop talking now.”

Keith tilted his head at her. “When did you develop a stutter? Was that recently? Wait, was it Haggar’s fault? Cause, I mean- I have a lion- and if she hurt you- or- well, honestly I want to blow her up anyway, but- what’s so funny?”

Some of the grief on Tlatoani’s face had given way to a smile and she squeezed his hand gently. “Nothing. I just- don’t change.” She bounced away from him to where Lotor and Ankarette were lying on makeshift leaf beds, Shauna, Hunk and Shay taking care of them. Keith shook his head. What was up with _her_?

Pidge shook her head as the vision of the forest pounded at her temples, the image clearer than it had _ever_ been.

“Uh, Tlatoani?”

“Hm?”

“Have you ever had, I dunno, visions of the future? Like, with the whole ‘connected to the universe’ thing?”

“Ah, no. I do know that sometimes people well-connected to nature do- like the dragons; they’re very connected to nature. I don’t have that particular talent, thank goodness, I don’t think I could handle it on top of everything else, but some do. Visions been hitting you?”

Pidge snapped up. “Uh, sorry, what? I don’t-”

Tlatoani laughed. “Oh, Pidge, you’re basically nature incarnate; you’re fond of rules and things that make sense, but are also complete chaos. Nobody ever knows what you’re going to do next.”

            “Oh. Um. Thanks?”

“You’re welcome.” Tlatoani’s gaze slid up to the sky. “Uh. What is that?” Pidge followed her gaze to see a fighter, not-Shiro’s angry face behind the glass. The green paladin cursed.

“Puppet Shiro. I _knew_ we were followed!”

“Where the Champion is,” Tlatoani remarked softly, “the witch isn’t far behind. Hide!”

\---------------

“Natasha! Natasha!”

“Sh, Shauna, you’ll alert him to our position!”

“Natasha, he’s _sick_. We don’t have to fight him; we have to heal him!”

“What?”

“He has black squiggly things in his head! We have to get them out!”

“What are you _talking_ about?”

“He’s trapped in there! The black squiggly things have him all locked up, we have to _save_ him! Why is Keith fighting him?!”

Natasha looked Shauna carefully in the eye. “Shauna, tell me. Can you get the squiggly things out?”

“I _think_ so. I can _try_ , but he keeps _moving_! I need him to hold still!”

Natasha smiled. “I think I can get that for you.”

\---------------

“Lance!”

Lance jumped, tripping over backwards. “Natasha! I’m trying to figure out a non-lethal way to take Shiro out!”

“And Shauna has one! But we need you to hold him still!”

“What do you _think_ I’ve been trying to do!”

Ankarette poked her head out of her hiding spot, weak but awake. “Keith? Sweetheart, where’s my stun gun?”

Keith blocked a slice from Shiro’s arm and then looked down at his belt where the gun was holstered. “Oh. Right.”

Keith backed up to Lance’s boulder where he’d been taking shots at Shiro’s arm in relative safety. Shiro chased after him, sword and arm colliding in a dangerous crash. Lance leaned out, snagged the stun gun from Keith’s belt and shot Shiro right in the head while he was occupied with Keith. The former black paladin dropped to the ground, unconscious. Keith deactivated his bayard with a wince, snatching the gun from Lance’s hand.

“That _can’t_ be good for him.”

Shauna skipped out of hiding. “Okey-dokey, squiggly things! Time to get out!” She hummed softly as she put her hands on the side of Shiro’s head, squeezing her own eyes shut in concentration.

“Pidge! Pidge! Put your hands on his head too!”

“Sorry, what?”

Shauna opened her eyes with a huff. “I need help! I opened his head, but the dark squiggly things are trying to eat me!”

Natasha paled. “ _Eat_ you?! Shauna, you need to get out of there!”

“Natasha, I’m fine! I can keep the squiggly things away from _me_ , but I need Pidge to unlock the door and let him out, or the squiggly things will take over him again!”

Pidge placed her hands on Shiro’s head, closing her eyes and sinking into Shiro’s mind. She opened them and found herself in a dark fog. A… well, what seemed to be a… all of Pidge’s science abandoned her as what came to her mind was _a black squiggly thing_. Well. That’s what it was. It jumped at her with a roar, Pidge holding her arms up to defend herself. There was a hiss, and Pidge opened her eyes to see the creature circling her with a hiss, a green aura surrounding her and keeping the creature at bay.

Shauna flickered into existence next to her, the tip of her tongue sticking out of her teeth. “Uh- oh! Okay! Pidge, I guess… yeah, you’ll be safe from the squiggly things I guess. There’s a door, somewhere around here. Just open it.”

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I’ll be _fine_. Just go open the door.”

Shauna faded away, leaving a door behind her, just a door, no room, just a door standing up in Shiro’s mindscape. Pidge smiled. “Huh. Well, whadda ya know?” She opened the door with a barely audible _click_. “Knock, knock.”

\----------------

Shiro looked up from the ball he’d curled into when the door opened. What was this? A trick? Probably. But… there was Pidge, glowing with a green aura that made him feel calm, and safe. It couldn’t be her, there was no way Pidge could get in here, this was his _mind_ , and clever as the green paladin was, she couldn’t possibly-

“C’mon, Shiro. You need to leave.” Pidge’s voice.

“I- I can’t. Everything I did-”

“-was not your fault,” Pidge finished. “You couldn’t do anything to stop it; you had no choice.”

“But… I hurt you… all of you…”

“Shiro, remember when Keith shot you?”

“Yeah…”

“And did you blame him, seeing as how he was under Haggar’s control?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then _why_ ,” Pidge asked in an exasperated tone, “in the name of all that is good and holy, would _any_ of us blame you?!”

“I let myself get captured…”

“You. Fought. Off. Half. An. Army! Absolutely _none_ of this is your fault!”

“I…”

“Please,” Pidge pleaded, her voice breaking, “please, come back to us. _Please_.”

“But… out there… the darkness…”

Pidge sighed. “Oh, Shiro. That’s not something I can help you with. You’re on your own for that one. I can’t save you from yourself. It’s your choice, to leave or stay; I just opened up the possibilities.” She turned away, smiling. “See you on the other side, Space Dad,” she whispered as she faded away.

Shiro looked out the door. In here, in this room, he was safe. If he stayed here, he would be alright. But his team wouldn’t be. His _family_ wouldn’t be.

Shiro activated his arm, marching out into the darkness. “Well?!” he screamed into the darkness, “Come and get me!”

\-------------

Pidge opened her eyes with a gasp, taking her hands off of Shiro’s head, Shauna doing the same next to her. Keith frowned.

“Is he okay?”

Pidge looked down at Shiro’s unconscious body. “That,” she replied wearily, “is entirely up to him.”

Shiro’s body started to convulse and shake, his eyes shooting open and rapidly converting from glowing gold to grey and back again. Pidge held out one arm to stop Keith from moving forward. “Wait.

Shiro’s back arched, and a stream of blackish-purple creatures came streaming out of Shiro’s mouth and nose, his body settling back down as Pidge clapped a containment pod over the creature, nodding to Keith.

The black paladin knelt at his predecessor’s side, gently patting his face until Shiro coughed, his eyelids flickering open, his eyes back to normal.

“K-Keith?”

“I’m here, Shiro. I’m here.”

“K-Keith, I- I’m so sorry- I- I’m so, so, sorry.” Shiro’s shoulders were shaking, sobs heaving in his chest. “I didn’t- I wasn’t- I-”

“Hey, Shiro, it’s okay!”

“No, no it’s not, I hurt you- I hurt _all_ of you- and- I-”

“Shiro, it wasn’t your fault!”

Hunk knelt down next to the two leaders, wrapping his arms around both of them. “None of us blame you, Shiro! You’re our friend, our _family_. What happened was _not_ your fault.”

Lance grabbed Pidge and yanked her and Allura into the hug as well. “Yeah, you know, I saw the things coming out of your head, and let’s be honest, those things could turn _Hunk_ into a raging maniac.”

Shiro’s eyes welled up with tears. “I- I don’t deserve any of you,” he mumbled. “Not a single one of you.”

“Yeah,” Lance grinned, “I don’t know _what_ you did, but it must have been _really_ bad for the universe to dump _us_ on you.”

Pidge winced as a vision hit her, this time Haggar blasting Tyesha’s tree, more creatures like the ones in Shiro pouring out and attacking them.

Tlatoani cleared her throat. “Um. Not to interrupt this touching reunion, but, ah, we have a small problem. Remember when I said that where Shiro was, Haggar wouldn’t be far behind? I wasn’t kidding.” She gestured to the sky, where Haggar’s ship was hovering.

Pidge leapt to her feet. “No! She can’t- guys, I need some time! She’s going to try for Tyesha’s tree, and I’m not entirely sure what will happen, but it won’t be good. I _think_ I can stop her, but I need some time. Can you get me that?”

Lance grinned. “What do you say, guys? Can we buy Pidge some time for her birthday?”

Keith scanned the sky, his mouth pressed into a tight line. “You have five minutes. We’ll try for more, but that’s all I can guarantee.”

Pidge gulped. “Five minutes. Got it.”

“Shiro. Stay with Shauna and Natasha. You’re still weak, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

The instant those words were out of Keith’s mouth, the forest vision hit Pidge like a sledgehammer. She winced. She _had_ to keep it together.

Haggar’s cackling echoed closer and Keith nodded. “This is it. This could very possibly be our last fight. Make it a good one.”

\---------------

“OI! Prune face!”

Haggar turned to Lance with a hiss, momentarily forgetting about her mission to the tree.

Lance tried for a grin. “Yeah, I’m talking to you! Man, Ankarette got lucky in the gene pool with _you_ for a mother and _Zarkon_ for a father! I mean, look at you! She turned out pretty well, considering. I mean, I don’t know. It could come with age. How old are you again? Older than dirt, I bet!”

Haggar growled deep in the back of her throat. “I am over ten-thousand years old, _pup_! I was old when your ‘civilizations’ were a collection of mud huts! I am _far_ more advanced than you _monkeys_!”

“Oh,” Lance said in a small voice, “Okay. Well, you look pretty good for ten-thousand! You don’t look a day over nine-thousand nine-hundred ninety-nine! That’s pretty great considering that your brain is being eaten by a bunch of black squiggly things! I mean, is there any brain left? I doubt it, considering how many times you’ve _failed_ to _kill_ us!”

“I can remedy that right now, if you like,” Haggar snarled, a glowing ball of energy growing in her hands.

“Uh, Keith, Hunk, Allura,” Lance muttered out of the side of his mouth, “if you’re going to do something, now would be a pretty good time to do it. I mean, not that I’m complaining or anything, but I’m about to be considerably less alive in a moment, so…”

A massive log came swinging out of the trees, _Star Wars_ Ewok style, Haggar barely warping away in time to keep from getting smacked. She warped right next to Allura, however, and had to quickly disappear again in order to avoid getting hit by her whip. Her next spot brought her in range of Keith’s sword, and Lance had to laugh at the expression on her face when she realized that they’d ringed her in and could hit her at any angle.

His laugh quickly died when she appeared next to him, too close for his gun, and slammed him with her elbow, shoving him _through a tree_.

“No more games, _paladin_ ,” she hissed, “you’re _finished_!”

A blur of black smacked the witch away, and she hissed. “Champion?! How- this isn’t possible! How- I’m going to _kill_ that little wharf rat!”

“I’m not your champion! I’m Takeshi Shirogane!”

“You are _nothing_!” Haggar multiplied, all of them converging on Shiro, knocking him onto the ground, where he lay, dazed. The witch hissed in contempt. “I’ll deal with you in a moment.” She turned back to Lance, who was struggling to sit up in the splinters of the tree. “Time for this to end, paladin.” A glowing ball of energy surrounded her hand again, but she stopped, looking down to see Shiro latched onto her ankle determinedly.

“Don’t- hurt- him!”

Haggar kicked backwards, her heel going into Shiro’s face and breaking his nose with a _snap_. He doggedly clung to her, refusing to let the witch go, ignoring the blood pouring from his nose. She zapped him with her lightning, again and again. “You! Could! Have! Been! _Everything_! But you chose _this_?! You could’ve been my Champion, but you choose to die instead!”

“It’s worth it,” Shiro wheezed, “to protect them.”

“ _Protect_ them? Their lives are forfeit! And who’s going to protect _you_?”

“I am!” Keith sliced at Haggar, his sword slicing through the mist. “I’ll protect Shiro! And Lance! And Hunk, and Allura and Pidge and Lotor and Coran and my mother! You took one family from me, and you’re not taking away another one!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Keith could see Hunk hustling to Shiro, helping the black paladin sit up. Good. Because, as Allura had just yelled at them, they were out of their zones and couldn’t contain Haggar much longer.

“Oh, half-breed,” Haggar hissed, “You’ve gotten me _exactly_ where I wanted to go.”

She shot two bolts of lightning, one at Tyesha’s tree and the other one at Keith, just as Pidge shouted “Got it!” and slammed her finger down on a button. Keith slammed his eyes shut, waiting for the bolt to hit him.

But it never did. He opened his eyes to see the bolt hovering an inch away from his chest, Haggar frozen. Lance pulled himself up, wincing, and Allura raced over from her assigned spot.

“Time freeze,” she said in a satisfied tone. “Pidge did it just in time. It doesn’t freeze those with druid blood. That’s why you and I are unaffected, Keith.”

“What about me?” Lance asked, “I’m as human as it gets.”

Allura nodded. “Blood transfusion. You have some of my blood in you. Ergo, you have the blood of a druid.”

“Cool. Creepy, but cool. What about her?” He nodded to the frozen Haggar.

“That would’ve been me.”

All three paladins whirled on their heels to see Tyesha, who was frowning disapprovingly at Haggar. “I froze her. Figured we’d rather have a conversation without her trying to kill all of us.”

“Where have you _been_?!”

“Here, of course.”

“What?” Keith practically screamed in frustration. “Could you maybe, for just _once_ in your lifetime _not_ be cryptic?!”

“When you have a lifetime as long as mine, it’s hard not to.” Tyesha sighed. “Truth is, I… I don’t have enough… when Haggar hit me with her dark energy, it drained my quintessence, reducing me to the state where I can only appear within the realm of the in-between, although it nearly killed that fool witch. She has no idea what she’s messing with. She’s trying to destroy the very _foundation_ of the universe to open a rip for her dark masters to come through. And… once I was gone, she used my tree to do it.” Tyesha nodded to a swirling rip, the dark monsters just inside. “Pidge froze it. Just in time, too.”

“So? How do we close it,” Keith asked impatiently, “It can’t _possibly_ be good for it to be open that long, even if it _is_ frozen.”

“I… It doesn’t matter. It’s frozen. So is the rest of the planet; Pidge overshot- she was just trying to freeze the rift. But the lions are working. You can get out of here.”

Keith shook his head.“For how long? Until Pidge’s machine breaks down, which we all know will happen; even the best of things break. No. I’m _not_ leaving that mess for another generation to deal with.”

“Keith, please, just get in your lions and leave. Don’t think about-”

“Tyesha, how do we close the rift?!”

Tyesha sighed. “One way would be to destroy the planet. But in doing so, you would have to destroy my tree, and in my weakened state, the cornerstone of the universe would crumble, leaving all peoples in chaos.”

“And the other way?”

“Are- are you sure you want to know?”

“ _Tyesha_.”

“Pure sacrifice. Willing self-sacrifice, a willing victim entering the rift with the intent of closing it. But to do so… you’d be ripped apart, the quintessence levels would be too much, you can’t do it! Even if you _did_ survive by some miracle, you’d be trapped on the other side with those… _things_. No. You can’t do it.”

“Me,” Lance automatically said. “I’ll do it. I- I’m not important anyway. I’m- I’m just a seventh wheel. You guys can deal without me.”

“No!” Allura countered, “No, Lance, the team needs you! We need you to fly your lion, we need you to joke with us and be, well, be Lance! It has to be me. My father dedicated his life to keeping anything like this from happening again, and now that I’ve failed in carrying on his task, I must take responsibility.”

Lance started arguing with her, and the two got in a heated debate.

“Stop! Both of you, stop fighting!”

The squabbling paladins stopped in their tracks and looked at Keith, who heaved a sigh.

“It has to be me.”

Both Allura’s and Lance’s mouths dropped open. “What?!”

“I’m the leader; I need to take the responsibility. _I_ broke formation to help Shiro, _I_ need to fix this.”

“NO!” Both Allura and Lance immediately started to point out why Keith needed to survive, the formerly bickering paladins united on one front.

“Guys-”

“No, Keith!”

“I knew you would argue. But it has to be me. I’m sorry.”

Lance frowned. “Sorry? Sorry for wh-”

Keith whipped his mother’s stun gun out of his holster and shot both Allura and Lance.

\-----------------

Lance felt the rough bark of a tree rubbing on his face, and opened his eyes to find that his wrists were chained to a tree. Allura was similarly tied up next to him.

“Keith!”

Keith was standing in front of the rift, his back to the swirling chaos. He ran his fingers through his bangs, laughing nervously. “ _Stars_ , I’m a _mess_. Handcuffing my friends to a tree and putting the universe in peril for a few more minutes.”

“Keith, I’m taking away your stun gun, d’ya hear me,” Lance shouted frantically, “You’ve used it on me _way_ too many times!”

“This is what you meant,” Keith said to Tyesha, “wasn’t it? Back when we first met. You told me that leaders had to make sacrifices. I thought you meant other people. But you meant this, didn’t you? You meant when I would have to sacrifice myself. You meant this moment.”

Tyesha sighed. “I had hoped this moment would never come. I’d hoped that you’d never have to make this choice.”

“But it did. And this is my choice.”

“I’m serious,” Lance shouted, “You get over here and hand me that stun gun! No more dangerous objects for you! Black bayard too, while you’re at it! It’s _my_ turn to be the leader!”

“Keith, please,” Allura whispered, “Please, you’ve already gone through so much, _please_ , let one of _us_ take it for once.”

“I mean, _come on,”_ Lance continued, “I think it’s high time _I_ got to boss everyone around and be the heroic self-sacrifice- NO! Don’t walk through that rift!”

“I have to. It- Jalen told me. All that time ago. _At the end of the universe/the half-breed stands tall/his choice alone/the universe’s rise or fall/at the end he is forced/a choice to make/to die a hero/or live with heartbreak._ ” He laughed a little. “I mean, that seems like a pretty obvious one to me. I meant what I said. I’m going to protect you guys. No matter the cost. I wouldn’t have this any other way. And… I’m glad it was you two. I’m glad you guys are here.” He gazed sadly at Hunk, frozen trying to help Shiro, and Pidge, her finger slammed down on a button ferociously. “Take care of them. And… tell them… tell them I’m sorry. And tell them I said goodbye.”

“NO!” Both paladins, ice and fire, fire and ice, simultaneously screaming as their leader and friend turned and walked into the rift.

Keith turned to face them as his body dissolved into golden light, smiling. “I love you, guys. You’ve been the best family a guy could ask for.” He closed his eyes, opening his hands and fading away, swirls of gold disappearing in the wind. The shadow monsters screamed as the rift closed, the cuffs deactivating and the time freeze automatically turning off. He’d done it. He’d closed the rift.

\-----------

Pidge blinked as Haggar’s bolt of lightning went through a tree and Lance and Allura unlocked from a tree, collapsing.

“Where’s Keith?”

Allura shook her head. “…Keith… Keith says goodbye.” Her eyes rolled back in her head and she pitched forward.

“WHAT?!” Haggar stared in disbelief at Tyesha’s tree. A wall of light had suddenly appeared in front of it, Tyesha crossing her arms and scowling at the witch from behind it. “NO!”

“Keith’s not dead,” Pidge said to herself, “He’s not, he’s not, he’s _not_! Keith can survive anything! It’s not possible. It’s just not.”

"Oh, it is," Haggar hissed, "It must have been so heroic, the black paladin walking into the rift, and then dying in a burst of light. Not that his sacrifice will mean anything; I can just open up a new rift."

"Oh, no you're not," Pidge snarled, running towards her, "you're not hurting anyone ever again!"

The witch disappeared, reappearing behind Pidge. "Are you so sure about that?" A blast of lightning slammed directly into the green paladin's head, and the world spun around her as she collapsed to the ground. She could hear voices calling her name, _screaming_ for her even as her vision faded to black.

\----------------

"-ge! -idge!" Pidge was lying on her back somewhere, eyes closed. "Pidge!"

Someone was gently shaking her and she blearily opened her eyes, vaguely seeing black hair and a concerned face floating just above her.

"...Keith?"

He sighed in relief. "You're alive!"

"Keith! It is you!" Pidge lunged up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "They told me you were dead, but I _knew_ you weren't!"

He hesitated a moment. "Uh... Yeah... Come on, there's someone I want you to meet."

Keith helped her to her feet and led her through a forest, which, she realized with a start, was the one from her vision. A man was sitting in a clearing, looking up with a smile when he saw Keith.

"You're back," he said in a vaguely southern accent, "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yeah. Pidge, this is my dad. Dad, this is Pidge."

Keith's father smiled broadly. "Pidge! Keith's told me so much about you!"

"He has? Uh, Keith, you haven't been here that long, how did you talk so fast?"

Keith stared vaguely into the distance. "Time isn't the same here."

"What do you mean, time isn't- oh. Oh, no. You _are_ dead, aren't you? That's why your dad's here, isn't it?" A sudden realization caught up to her. "Am I dead too?"

"No," Keith quickly assured her "you're not dead. Very close, but not dead yet."

"Oh. Good, I guess?"

"Pidge, we don't have much time. But you need to know; Haggar is under control as much as Shiro was. She doesn't know what she's doing. It's all the little quintessence monsters; they're behind it all. What you did for Shiro, you can do for her as well."

"But... I don't want to. I want to kill her! She's the reason you're dead!"

"Pidge, that was my choice. And besides; underneath the witch is a better person. Underneath the witch is Lotor's mother. My grandmother. Don't you think that we should at least _try_ to save her?"

"...Fine." Pidge winced as she could hear other voices, Haggar's cackle and Hunk's cry of pain and sadness.

Keith frowned. "Your body is calling you back. You're about to leave."

"Wait," Pidge cried, "Before I go! Tell me... Was this real, or was this all in my head?"

Keith smirked. "Of course it was all in your head. But why on _Earth_ would that mean it isn't real?" He started to fade away, and Pidge reached out for his hand.

"Wait! Don't leave! Stay with me!"

He smiled, grasping tightly onto her hand even as he faded away. "Pidge, I'm _always_ with you. After all, I never _really_ left."

\------------

Pidge opened her eyes, her head throbbing from all of the witch's lightning she got up, making a run for the witch, who turned and hissed in surprise.

'NO! It's impossible!"

"Not impossible," Pidge snarled, "just highly improbable!" She charged forward with a fierce battle cry, Keith's strength pouring into her, his voice mixing with hers as she put her hands on the sides of Haggar's head, entering the witch's mindscape.

\------------

Pidge ran through the fog, the darkness attempting to eat away at the light surrounding her, but falling back with hisses of pain, some of them with the telltale marks of Keith's sword. Pidge quickly found the door, opening it to reveal an Altean, with tear lines streaking down her face.

"Honerva?"

The Altean lifted her head. "Who are you?"

"I- uh- I'm the green paladin."

"No you're not! Where's Trigel?"

"Uh- I- uh- she's not around. I'm here to get you out."

"Those monsters out there..."

"You _have_ to fight them."

"I..."

Keith flickered into existence next to Pidge. "Please- Honerva- you _have_ to!"

"You... You're my grandchild," Honerva said wonderingly, gently touching his cheek, "You're my family!" Her face dropped. "And I hurt you. I hurt you so much- I- I'm the reason you're dead..."

Keith's expression softened. "I- yeah. But- I- it wasn't you. I can see that. I didn't blame Shiro, and I won't blame you."

Honerva's eyes filled with tears. "You... You're too good for me. I don't deserve a grandchild like you. I don't even deserve to be alive."

Keith gently wiped a tear from Honerva's face. "No, don't say that! You have two _great_ children out there, two children who haven't ever known you, the _real_ you, and- and you should really meet them. I won't be there, but they will."

Haggar shook her head. "Lotor and Ankarette. My children. How can they ever forgive me?"

"They will. It'll take time, and you'll have to make up for a _lot,_ but they'll forgive you. That's the kind of people they are." He started to fade again. "Please, fight back."

"Really," Pidge said to the alchemist, "we could really use any help we can get, and... And I think that Lotor and Ankarette deserve to meet their real mother. Do it for them. Do it for your family."

Honerva's stood tall, her face determined. "I will. I won't be prisoner of these monsters any longer. I will fight!"

Pidge smiled as she faded back into her own body. She opened her eyes and fell back from Haggar- no, Honerva, all the energy draining from her. She felt Jalen's strong but thin arms catching her as she passed out for the second time that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the three of you who voted Nay on Keith's death. I decided that three votes wasn't really enough to save him.


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're never alone.

Pidge tumbled out if the cryo pod, Allura catching her and helping her to her feet. "Oh! Good," the Altean princess said cheerfully, "Everybody else woke up, we were just waiting for you!"

"Wha..."

"Hunk, Coran and Jaylen carried us back to the yellow lion and brought the Castle back for the other lions. It was a little iffy with all the lighting you took, but you're alright now." 

Pidge stood wobbily on her own two feet, walking into the break room where all of the other paladins were waiting. Honerva, Lotor and Ankarette were all conversing in low tones in a corner, Honerva occasionally shaking her head. Jalen's ears twitched when Pidge entered the room, and he jumped up, immediately tripping over the table.

He jumped back to his feet. "Ow! Who put a table there?!"

"It's always been there," Lance replied amusedly, "You just keep forget- Pidge!"

He jumped up from the couch and hugged her, closely followed by Hunk. "Oh, man," Lance said excitedly, "What you did, that was awesome! You just put your hands on Haggar- sorry, Honerva's- head and then all this black blob stuff poured out of her and died and it was awesome! I don't think that I could've done that, honestly. I probably would've killed her."

"Yes," Honerva said in a both serious and amused tone, "thank you for not doing what Lance would've done." 

Pidge grinned. "Of course. _Someone_ has to be intelligent around here."

As Lance squawked in indignation, Jalen finally found his way around the table to give her a hug. "You did it," he whispered, "You saved the universe!"

Pidge's expression saddened. "No," she murmured, "Keith did."

Jalen nodded. "Yes. He did."

"Excuse me," Honerva asked timidly, "but could someone tell me exactly what's been happening in the last ten-thousand years?"

All of the other paladins glanced at each other before shrugging. "Yeah. Sure." All of them, including Ankarette and Lotor, sat in a circle on the floor, Ankarette starting.

"Mostly this started when you, a brilliant alchemist, decided to make a clone..."

They all told Haggar of all the things that had happened, Lotor telling the story of the ten years Keith had spent as a slave, choking up a little when he described what he'd done, and all of them stopping a moment as they remembered their fallen friend. But Pidge felt it, she could feel Keith sitting next to her, smiling and laughing, and everybody else must've felt it too, because they began talking again, and everything got happier. Because, of course, Keith had never _really_ left them.

\-------------

Pidge padded up to Lotor softly. The Galran prince was staring out the window, his mind obviously a million miles away. "Hey," she said softly, "Is everything okay?"

Lotor sighed. "He was my family. For so long, I tried so hard to protect him, maybe not in the best way, but in the only way I could, and now... Now he died protecting me and the rest of the universe." He looked down at the new scars he'd received from his time as a prisoner of Zarkon. "When... When I was in that cell, or in the torture chambers and they almost killed me... I could see Merla. She would appear, and I'd be in a wood, and she'd tell me not to give up. Last time... Just a few moments before Keith showed up... She told me that it was goodbye. And then she disappeared and the next thing I knew, Hunk and the little one were bandaging me up. I can't help but feel that you had a similar experience."

Pidge nodded. "I... I saw Keith. In that wood. Keith and his dad. He told me... He told me that he had never _really_ left."

Lotor nodded. "I suppose he hasn't, in a way. But I'm still going to miss him. Even if he _did_ never call me 'Uncle.' I wish he'd survived to see us freeing the universe. I wish... I wish I'd gotten to know him longer."

Pidge hugged him, then. She only came up to his waist. Lotor tensed in surprise. "What..."

"You need a hug," she mumbled, "So I'm giving one to you. Accept it."

Lotor relaxed, a single tear dripping down his face as he wrapped one arm around the green paladin. "Thank you, Pidge. Thank you for... Thank you."


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ones you love never really leave you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, you guys held on through all of my delusions? I'm sincerely impressed.

Twenty-three-year-old Lance sighed as he honked his horn. _Quiznek,_ he hated traffic. The blue lion was too big to get him where he needed to get on Earth, so he had to use a car. And get stuck in traffic. Which he hated.

The light turned green, and Lance slammed on the gas. He was at the intersection when a teenager ran out, right in front of his car. Lance slammed on the brakes, honking his horn, and a car traveling at twice the speed limit whizzed right in front of him, barely missing him. Lance shouted rapidly in English, Spanish and Altean, cursing the driver and his car. If he hadn't braked for that kid... That kid! Where had he gone?!

Lance glanced out the window to see the teenager walking across the street, hands in pockets. He squinted suspiciously at the kid. Was that a... mullet?

A car went across his line of vision, and when it disappeared, so had the boy. He'd looked an awful lot like... But he couldn't be... Lance shrugged. At least that car hadn't hit him. He'd probably never know who that kid was. Maybe his guardian angel.

\------------

Hunk sniffed the air suspiciously. Was something... burning? He hadn't left the stove on, had he? He walked down the stairs to see a raging fire. How had the smoke alarms not gone off? He turned to find a window, but the fire was raging behind him now as well. He was trapped. What was he supposed to do,  run through fire?!

Hunk heard a cough, and saw someone else trapped in the fire, shorter and skinnier than him, only a teenager.

"Hold on," he called, "I'll get you out!"

He sucked up his courage and ran through the fire, as quickly as he could. "It's okay! I'll- where'd he go?!" The teenager was nowhere in sight, but there was an open window that Hunk hadn't seen through the smoke. He climbed out of it, thanking his lucky stars that he'd wanted to help that kid out. Hunk hadn't known what that boy was doing in his house, but Hunk was glad he'd been there; he wouldn't've found that window if he hadn't.

\---------

Shiro eyed the tracks dubiously. They'd obviously come this way, but... He walked a few more steps and then tripped. A couple of bullets raced over his head, and Shiro quickly took down the sniper. Thank the sun and moon that he'd tripped, or- Shiro frowned. A tripwire. That trip had been orchestrated by someone else.

"Huh," he said out loud, "Guess it's my lucky day."

\----------

Twenty-year-old Pidge pulled out her credit card to pay for the new parts she was buying when someone suddenly yanked the card out of her hand and took off running.

"Hey!" she shouted, "Give that back!"

She chased after the thief, following his distinctive red jacket, down the escalator into the crowded first floor where she quickly lost the him. She growled to herself, pulling out her phone to freeze her account. A mall cop tapped her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, ma'am? A boy said you dropped this and I should give it to you."

He was holding her missing credit card. Pidge took it from him, frowning. "What did this boy look like?"

"Uh, black hair, pale skin, red jacket- and his eyes were purple."

Pidge's eyebrows narrowed. That sounded like...

A gunshot echoed from the store Pidge had just been in, followed by screams and more shots. Pidge's veins turned to ice. If she'd still been in that store...

"Thank you, Keith," she murmured, "Thank you for saving me."

\------------

Allura walked down a crowded street, her eyes on the screen where Coran was. "Give me numbers, Coran, I need to know-" someone bumped into her,knocking the device out of her hand where it shattered on the pavement. "Ugh! What- Who-" grumbling, Allura walked on, turning into a repair shop instead of turning to the train station.

Xxx

"Princess! Are you alright?!"

"Of course I am, Coran, why wouldn't I be? I just dropped the com."

"Princess, there was an explosion at your station! Your train was demolished!"

Allura shuddered. She'd missed her train to repair her device, and now it seemed to be a blessing in disguise. She looked out the window and she could've _sworn_ she'd seen a pair of violet eyes staring somberly at her, but when she blinked, they were gone. Blessing, indeed. One might even say a miracle.

\----------

Lotor slammed a hand down on the counter. Ugh. He hated the black market Unalu. "Tell me," he growled, "where the smuggler is hiding. He has a death count of fifty, ten of them children. If you _don't_ tell me what you know, I'll let my sister get her hands on you. She's lost a child, and I can tell you, she won't hesitate to make your life hell if she thinks you're in league with a child killer."

The Unalu flinched backwards. "I- I don't-"

"Yes, you do!"

"Game's up, friend. He knows." Lotor's quarry stepped out of the shadows. "So, the infamous Prince Lotor, Galran royalty turned space cop. Good to finally meet you."

"I'm taking you in," Lotor snarled, "I'm willing to overlook a bit of smuggling, but murder isn't something I'll tolerate."

"You're one to talk. What's your murder count, again? And didn't you beat your own family?"

Lotor's breathing slowed as his mind flashed through every enemy he'd ever faced and destroyed, every whip mark he'd left. He didn't notice the smuggler coming up with his sword.

A metal shelf toppled to the ground, falling in between the murderer and Lotor. The murderer howled in pain as it landed on his toes, and Lotor snapped out of his thoughts, drawing his sword. Something red flashed in the corner of his eye, and the shopkeeper jumped up.

"Hey! Little rat! That stuff is expensive!" He charged after the perpetrator, leaving Lotor alone with his prey.

 _Well,_ Lotor thought grimly, _Thank you, little rat. You probably just saved my life._

\------

Ankarette whirled around. She could've _sworn_ she'd heard something... But there was no one... Was she imagining things now? She shook her head. She was in a forest. It was probably just a squirrel.

She turned around and saw a knife glinting on the ground in front of her. She frowned. Huh. That hadn't been there five seconds ago. She picked it up. Was someone trying to tell her something?

Something skittered behind her, and she spun around again to see a wolf, snarling and pouncing on her. She brought the knife up with a yelp, accidentally driving it into the wolf's throat. It dropped dead on the ground, and she let out a sigh of relief. If that knife hadn't been on the ground...

\----------

Keith let out a sigh as he walked away from his mother, watching the trees change to his forest home. Tlatoani was waiting for him there.

"Saved her?"

"Yeah. Thanks for the tip."

She smirked. "Good thing I can talk to you. And send you along the threads."

He sighed. "I just wish I could talk to them."

Her gaze softened. "Keith, I know, and I wish you could too. But you're not part of their world anymore. And you chose that."

He sighed. "I know. I just wish I could tell them that I'm there for them."

"I think they already know that."

"Yeah," he said with a smile, "I think they do."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. I can't believe this is it. This is the end. Alright, then. Thanks for reading!


End file.
